My Friend the Mermaid
by MagicSwede1965
Summary: A teenage islander makes a new friend of a persuasion she never quite expected, and is drawn into an adventure she never dreamed of. Follows 'Zephyr Passing'.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** _Since I can see this one is going to be an extra-long one, I decided to post the first few chapters now, to create a little suspense. __:) Many thanks as always to my readers and reviewers, especially the Faithful Four—PDXWiz, jtbwriter, Harry2 and Bishop T!_

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§ § § -- March 18, 2005

It was the final day of spring vacation for the island's school system, and Leslie had plans for it. She had given Ingrid the day off to spend with Jonathan Ichino, offered Haruko Miyamoto the chance to take the triplets to the beach with her that afternoon, and double-checked Christian's last e-mail to make certain she knew when he was supposed to arrive home. Now, with Ingrid happily gone somewhere with Jonathan and Haruko having just departed with the triplets to the beach near the Enclave's marina, she was preparing herself to give Christian a particular homecoming she hoped he wouldn't soon forget.

She'd been cleaning up baby toys and dropping them into the huge cloth-lined basket in the triplets' room that served as a toy chest, and now she was doing housework, mostly just dusting and straightening, waiting for Christian to walk in. None of this was very much out of the ordinary; what made it different was what she'd dressed in to do it. She was wearing a white sundress with a very short skirt…and nothing else at all. Leslie was a little nervous, but looking forward to Christian's reaction. It had to be right; it had taken a lot of effort to arrange this day, especially because she had the triplets to consider, and if anything went wrong she knew she'd be devastated.

Stacking a number of outdated magazines into a pile for recycling, she froze all of a sudden when she heard the sound of a car engine. Scuttling into the kitchen on her bare toes, she peered out the window. Sure enough, Christian was just alighting from a jeep while one of Roarke's employees went around back for his suitcase. A thrill ricocheted through her, and excitedly she raced out of the kitchen and up the stairs, setting about carefully turning down the bedcovers.

Downstairs she heard the door open and Christian call, "Thank you, Aki." A faint response echoed from outside, and she heard the jeep start up; the door closed, and then Christian called out again: "Hello, is anyone home?"

Deliberately she remained silent, wanting him to discover her in here. As quietly as she could, she finished arranging the bedcovers, then went to stand in front of the French doors to their private deck, glancing out and smiling at the deep-blue sky overhead.

"Isn't someone here?" Christian's voice asked, sounding a little disgruntled now, and Leslie grinned to herself, hearing him start muttering in _jordiska_ when he still got no answer. His voice became clearer as he approached the stairs, and she caught some of what he was saying—he was annoyed that everyone seemed to have deserted the place, even though he'd made it clear enough when he expected to be home. He was climbing the steps, and now Leslie settled her stance and waited, her heartbeat accelerating with anticipation.

Christian came around the L-shaped wall that closed the stairwell off from their bedroom, yanking at his tie and still muttering to himself. He dropped the suitcase with a curse that punctuated its landing on the floor, got his tie loose and stripped it off—and then saw Leslie standing there, finally. "So someone's here after all! Why didn't you say anything when I called out? I thought everyone had gone…" He trailed off when a smiling Leslie approached him a deliberate step at a time, and finally seemed to notice her attire. "What's that you've got on? I haven't seen it before…looks very comfortable in this warm weather. So what's the story here, were you hiding from me?"

"Not exactly," Leslie replied, pausing in front of him and giving him a certain look from under her bangs, removing the tie from his hand and dropping it. "It's more of a special welcome for you." So saying, she began to unbutton his shirt.

He let her, watching her curiously, his hazel eyes taking in her soft smile. Then he seemed to get it and smiled faintly back. "You missed me that much?"

"Of course," Leslie said, tugging the shirt out of his slacks to get at the last button or two. "But there's more to it than that. It's…well, let's call it a congratulatory celebration for hiring all your Arcolosian employees in ten days flat." She reached up with both hands and smoothed his chest.

"Ah, I see," Christian said, and she saw the answering gleam in his eyes. Shrugging off his shirt and letting it fall, he gathered her into his arms and kissed her, stroking her back. Leslie allowed him this, returning his leisurely French kiss in equal measure to enhance her own need for him, but aware all the while of his hands on her. He stroked the fabric over her bottom, then slipped his hands beneath it—and froze, then pulled back from her. "You've never done that before," he whispered, wide-eyed.

"Done what, my love?" she murmured, still caressing his chest.

"Are you aware that you have no underclothes on?" he asked, half astonished, half intrigued. She could see the surprise and desire warring with each other in his eyes.

Smiling, she nodded. "It's part of my plan," she murmured, dropping a tantalizing kiss on his lips, pulling back when he tried to deepen it.

"What plan?" Christian wanted to know, now with both hands on her bare skin. The desire in his eyes was winning out over the confusion.

"My plan to welcome you home," she said softly, nodding once at the bed.

Christian peered over his shoulder, saw that the covers had been folded back nearly to the foot of the mattress, and raised an eyebrow at her. "Hm, tell me more."

"First, come over here and sit down," Leslie instructed, already leading him to the bed. When he obediently sat on the edge of the mattress, she knelt in front of him and pulled off his shoes, explaining, "You have a way of making me forget every little thing I want to do to you when we make love. The moment you kiss me and start touching me, I can't keep my thoughts in line, and they always blow off into the ether in just a few seconds and never come back. Well, not this time." She tugged off his socks while he watched, intrigued and even slightly amused. "This time, I'm the one in control. I'm going to kiss you and touch you and drive you crazy, the way I've dreamed of doing to you for years." She removed his Rolex and laid it on her night table with care.

"Is that so?" Christian inquired, watching her reach up and unbuckle his belt. "And what am I to do while you're busy seducing me?"

"Nothing," Leslie said, pulling him to his feet then and pushing his slacks down far enough to allow them to fall the rest of the way. "All you do is lie there."

At that Christian let out a little laugh. "Truly? Just lie there? Doing what?"

"Not a thing," she said, "except enjoy." She paused, molded her hand against him and smiled knowingly. "I knew it. You're not half as cavalier as you pretend to be, my darling. Just my describing this has you going, doesn't it?"

He chuckled good-naturedly and conceded, "All right, I confess, you have me there. So, then, what are you waiting for?"

Leslie pretended to consider it for a second or two, then smiled at him again. "Oh, I almost forgot. There _is_ one thing you have to do…but I'll tell you when to do it." He made a noise of curiosity while she completed stripping him. "Okay…now, get into the bed and lie back, and raise your hands up and let them rest on the pillows."

He grinned at that and remarked, "As tired as I am, I have to admit that appeals to me, but I should warn you I probably won't be able to resist touching you." She just smiled wickedly, and he lowered himself onto the mattress and settled himself back, arms spread out to either side. "Well, so what's next?"

Leslie climbed onto the mattress and straddled him, settling herself gently atop him and leaning over, bracing herself with both hands. "You undress me."

Christian's smile was distinctly wicked itself, and she focused on it as he raised himself up enough to gather the hem of the skirt into his hands and lift it over her head. That smile should have warned her, she realized a moment later, for as he pulled the dress away and threw it aside, he stroked his hands up her torso till he reached her breasts, then began to lightly fan his fingertips over the nipples. Before she could protest, he delivered another of those devastating kisses of his, tongue stroking hers. Then he withdrew barely enough for her to breathe, painting her lower lip with his tongue and then catching it between both of his, suckling till she moaned aloud. He never stopped playing with her nipples the whole time, and it was only with the mightiest effort that Leslie drew back from him. Her body throbbed, centering in the moist heat between her legs. "Dirty pool," she gasped.

"All's fair in love and war," Christian replied huskily, "and I much prefer love to war." He made to kiss her again, but this time she caught his hands and pushed him back.

"Oh no you don't, Christian Enstad," she murmured. "I'm going to have my way, one way or the other. Let me give you fair warning, my sexy prince—if you try to touch me one more time, I might just have to tie your hands to the bedpost."

"There aren't any bedposts," he reminded her, disobeying her edict with a smirk and tracing two fingertips up her leg.

"Don't distract me, Christian," Leslie ordered, trying not to laugh. "If you have so little self-control that you can't abide the prospect of just letting me touch you while all you do is watch and take it in…"

"Ah, yes, that's right," Christian said and buried a hand beneath each pillow. "There, does that satisfy you, my tasty temptress?"

She grinned. "That's more like it, yes." She closed her eyes, actually grateful for his stolen kiss and caress, for it had increased her need for him threefold. Enjoying it immensely, she caressed and stroked him to an utter frenzy, only to have him return the favor once he'd recovered. In the aftermath Leslie wrapped herself around him, clinging, breathing in his unique scent: remnants of his sandalwood soap, the last traces of his cologne, and the gently musky male scent that was Christian alone.

In time they opened their eyes and gazed at each other. "Well?" he murmured.

Leslie smiled at him. "I don't know where you learned to do that," she teased softly, "but I sure hope it's not the last time you do it."

Christian grinned, broke into helpless chuckling and lifted his head, kissing her. "Oh, Leslie, my beautiful Rose, I love you," he said. "Had I known I'd get such a fabulous welcome home, I'd have finished my hiring in five days." She burst into laughter and he joined in, and they hugged each other, savoring each other's presence.

After a while Christian asked, "Now that we have our wits about us again, what did you do with our children? We could never have done what we just did without a response of some kind from them."

Leslie laughed. "Today's the last day of school vacation here, and I asked Haruko if she'd like an extra babysitting day. That way Susanna, Karina and Tobias could have a trip to the beach, Haruko could have a little extra spending money, and you and I could have our stolen few hours together."

"My wife, the genius," Christian murmured, smiling. "Very well planned, my Rose." He kissed her, and just like that they forgot everything around them again.


	2. Chapter 2

§ § § -- March 18, 2005

While Christian and Leslie were in their own world, their son and daughters were sitting in the warm sand, grabbing handfuls of it, digging their feet into it, sometimes even throwing it. Haruko Miyamoto had to constantly restrain all three of them from stuffing it into their mouths or flinging it at each other.

The sea breeze was warm and brisk, tossing Haruko's hair into her face and making her wish she'd thought to tie it back. She couldn't even rake it out of her eyes, for she was diligently blocking sand-filled little fists from gaining entrance to mouths, prying open said fists to let the sand fall out, and continuously scolding the triplets, repeating "no, no" till it felt as though that were the only word she knew.

It was funny to watch the triplets, though. When they weren't trying to eat the sand, they would open their hands wide and stare in amazement at the leftover grains stuck to their palms. Six flat little bare feet churned endlessly, plowing up furrows, occasionally sending the sand flying after a particularly energetic kick and bringing on delighted giggles that always transferred themselves to Haruko. Miss Leslie had been right when she'd said they could be a handful, but Haruko loved watching the triplets. They were happy, personable babies who seemed to like everybody, and they were little sweethearts, dressed as they were in red-and-white pinstriped sunsuits and little white hats, with sunscreen smeared liberally on their exposed skin and gleaming in white runnels on their arms.

A gust of wind buffeted her, and she threw some wayward hair out of her eyes and squinted at the restless ocean, wondering why it was so blustery and hot. The sky seemed clear enough, but something made her glance west even though she had little interest and no instinct for weather. For miles along the horizon she could see towers of cumulus, slightly rosy in the atmospheric haze, denoting a long line of developing thunderstorms.

"Uh-oh, guys," Haruko said with a rueful grin. "Look at all that nasty weather way out there." She wondered how long it would take for the storms to get there, when the triplets would finally grow weary of all this new sensory stimulation and get sleepy, and how fast she could get them back to the Enstads' home before the weather changed. Right now the babies showed no signs of slowing down, and she began to divide her attention between them and the weather, hoping they'd conk out enough that she could put one into the stroller without missing another stuffing a handful of sand into his or her mouth.

By the time the cloud towers had grown high enough to really worry Haruko, the triplets had begun yawning; they had quit plowing sand, but their feet and legs were covered with it and mixed with the sunscreen. _Miss Leslie and Prince Christian are going to have a heck of a time giving them their baths,_ Haruko thought with a grin, lifting Karina and using her own beach towel to gently brush sand off her legs and feet. "Dah?" Karina said, watching Haruko's movements and trying to grab the towel.

"Sand," Haruko said, grinning at her. "That's sand, Karina, see? And right now that sand's all messy. I hope it doesn't take all the sunscreen off with it, or your mommy's going to kill me for letting you get all sunburned." She cleaned wayward sand grains off Karina's hands, brushed off the soles of her feet and settled her into the stroller. She then lifted Tobias and repeated the process with him; he beat his palms against his sunsuit, making her laugh. "You're funny, Tobias."

"Da-da ma-ma," Tobias said as if in agreement, while Susanna got herself onto her hands and feet and crawled toward Haruko. By the time Haruko was satisfied that as much sand as possible had been removed from Tobias, his sister had latched onto Haruko's knee and was using it as leverage to pull herself onto her feet. Enchanted, Haruko stopped moving altogether and stared at her; Susanna looked back and gave her an enormous smile, as if proud of her accomplishment.

"Wow, Susanna!" Haruko exclaimed. "Do your mommy and daddy know you can do that? Just wait till they see!" Susanna giggled and bounced a little, flexing her knees; the motions put her off balance and she landed on her well-padded little backside with a soft thump. Laughing, Haruko got up and strapped Tobias into the stroller, then began to brush the sand off Susanna.

A rumble of thunder interrupted her and she looked around; the clouds had drawn close enough to cover almost half the sky. The wind buffeted them regularly now, and Haruko tried to submerge her nervousness, not wanting the triplets to pick up on it. The sun vanished long before Haruko got Susanna into the stroller; the babies were chattering, apparently oblivious to Haruko's rising alarm at the changing weather.

She had to pick up the stroller, babies and all, to get it off the beach; the wheels just wouldn't roll in the sand. Not too far away was a long wooden ramp that led up to the well-kept docks of the Enclave's marina; even as Haruko pushed the stroller up it, she could see vendors closing shop and tying down their canvas awnings against the approaching storm.

Half walking, half running along the boardwalk towards the parking lot just off the Ring Road, she heard a voice hail her from a bait shop. "Hey there, young miss, aren't those the Enstad triplets you've got there?"

Haruko paused and nodded, slightly out of breath. "I'm trying to get them home before the storm breaks, but I don't know if I'm going to make it."

The portly native man grinned and glanced overhead, shaking his head. "I don't think so. Look, the ticket office is open—you might be better off waiting it out in there. They have a phone if you want to call Prince Christian and Miss Leslie and let them know you and the triplets are out of the weather."

"Thanks," Haruko said gratefully and made for the small building the man had indicated. The office had been built to monitor comings and goings from this marina, and kept a supply of passes for those who came through here and wanted to get onto the island. There were restrooms and a small snack bar here, and it would be a good place to wait out the storm. She pushed the stroller in, surprised to find it deserted; evidently the boaters who'd been thronging the place when she first arrived with the babies had paid more attention to the weather than she had, and gone home. She picked a table near a window, where she could watch the storm, and parked the triplets' stroller beside her chair, then went to the pay phone not far away and watched the babies while she put in a quick call to their parents and let them know they were under shelter.

For almost an hour the storm lashed the beach, whipping canvas awnings, blowing loose leaves and fallen flower petals; the rain beat the windows, streaming down the glass and occasionally obscuring the view. Tobias and Susanna napped in the stroller, but Karina seemed fussy, and Haruko lifted her out and cuddled her in her lap, talking to the baby while lightning sometimes brightened the mid-afternoon sky and thunder rattled the floor.

By the time the storm trundled on and the rain stopped, Karina had fallen asleep, and Haruko carefully resettled her in the stroller. She ventured into the parking lot and stared around in amazement. The boardwalk glistened; debris littered the beach, and everything was plastered with dead leaves and colorful petals. In places whole blossoms lay on the ground. Thunder mumbled in the distance. The wind had almost died, but the ocean still pounded the shore; she could see the surf crashing onto the sand in breakers big enough to tempt the local surfers.

About to turn and head across the Ring Road toward the Enclave access road, she stopped abruptly, certain she'd heard something. Frowning, she wheeled the stroller around and pushed it slowly toward the boardwalk, listening hard. Yes, there it was again. _Sounds like someone's voice. Maybe somebody got caught in the surf or something?_ Haruko moved past the boardwalk entrance and skirted the boulders that anchored the soil in the banking between the parking lot and the beach, trying to see over them. The sand was strewn with dark-green seaweed on the western side of the boardwalk; as the sun broke through the clouds, the stuff began steaming as if someone were cooking it. "Yuck!" she muttered.

"Where am I?" came a voice then, faint but very distinct, as if in reply.

Shocked, Haruko shot straight up and wildly scanned the seaweed, but couldn't see anything. While she was vainly searching for the source of the voice, she heard it again. "Help me, please, someone…"

Haruko cast a glance back at the triplets, scanned the parking lot and noticed it was still empty, and then peered at the sky, which was slowly clearing. She could hardly leave the triplets alone, though. Who knew what would happen to them, and even if nothing did happen, someone might very well come along, find them apparently abandoned, and take them back to Prince Christian and Miss Leslie, who would be furious with her for not sticking with them—and then, of course, there were her parents…

"Help," the voice drifted weakly to her ears once more, and Haruko shook her head. There was no help for it; she was the only one around. She wedged the stroller up against the rocks so that it wouldn't roll away unexpectedly, then climbed to the top of the breakwater, promising her conscience she would go no farther.

"Hello," she called uncertainly.

"Please help me," the weak voice begged again. Haruko raked her hair out of her face with both hands, scanned the rocks at the foot of the breakwater, and finally spied a blonde head, lying atop a mound of steaming seaweed. One arm had been flung onto a nearby rock, and Haruko hoped it wasn't broken.

"Stay there, babies," she murmured with one last nervous glance back at the stroller, and then began to descend the slick boulders, grateful for her rubber-soled wading shoes. It took her a few minutes to reach the bottom, where she was able to get a good look at the head of the person lying there. Now that she was close, she could see that the golden hair was liberally sprinkled with what looked like iridescent blue-green glitter, and the female face seemed to be wearing sparkly gold eye shadow and pale-coral lipstick. She looked like some kind of model, as beautiful as she was, but she seemed awfully young. How could makeup and hair glitter survive being tossed around in the sea? And…

Suddenly the girl's eyes opened and she stared listlessly up at Haruko. A faint smile stretched the lips just a bit. "Have you come to save me?"

"I can try," Haruko said doubtfully, biting her lip. "Nothing's broken, is it?"

"No, I think not," the girl murmured, eyelids fluttering. "But perhaps it is too late." She released a wispy sigh, closed her eyes and let her head fall to one side.

"I should get help," Haruko said. "If you can wait here—"

The girl's eyes opened halfway and she shook her head a little. "By then it will not matter. I will be dead."

Haruko stared at her, stomach rolling. She still didn't understand the makeup, and if the girl was breathing, how could she be dying, unless she had internal injuries? Maybe that was the problem, but if so, it was beyond her ability to help. "Well, you didn't drown…"

"The seaweed," the girl said, her voice almost down to a whisper. "There is a chance…if you remove the seaweed and…carry me to the water…"

_To_ the water? "But…"

"Please," the girl begged, her eyes drifting closed once more. "Or I will die."

Well, she wasn't going to have a death on her conscience if she could help it. The girl was clearly delirious; but no matter what was wrong with her, lying under a pile of stinky seaweed certainly wasn't helping her. Haruko began to grab wads of the stuff in her hands, grimacing, and flung them away as far as she could. The girl stirred, and Haruko threw faster, gradually uncovering skeins of long, wavy blonde hair with more glitter in it, what appeared to be a genuine pearl necklace, and clear skin with what looked like a faint tinge of bottle green to it. The breeze kicked up and blew aside some of the hair, revealing more than Haruko had quite expected to see. Deeply embarrassed, she looked hastily away, her face hot, wondering if this girl knew she was nude. Without speaking she went on hurling away seaweed.

She uncovered the stomach and paused a moment, her eyes going uncertainly back to the face. The girl was watching her, smiling gently. "You are very red. Is something wrong?"

Haruko floundered for something to say and finally came up with, "Well, I guess you ought to know…I think your bathing suit got lost."

To her surprise, the girl's face registered sheer perplexity. "What is a bathing suit?"

Haruko's mouth dropped open. Maybe she was a nudist? It was the only explanation she could think of. "Um…"

The girl's smile returned. "Do not worry, I think I can help a little." Haruko reached out to grab another handful of seaweed, and the girl kicked gently, flinging some of the smelly stuff aside. But it wasn't a foot that emerged from the heavy green gunk.

"Is that a…_tail?"_ Haruko breathed, eyes enormous.

A deep sigh sounded at her left and she turned back to see the girl regarding her with pity. "If I were not so weak, and there were others of my kind here, you would never have known I was here. But I am alone, and I must take what help is available to me. You must take my arms now and drag me to the water, so that I may live. My skin will become lethally dry in the sun unless you do this."

"I'm sorry!" Haruko said helplessly. "I just never…I never thought I'd actually see a mermaid—a real live mermaid. I know about kappas, but mermaids…"

The girl shuddered. "Kappas…ugh, how repulsive. I have known my share, and they are exceedingly nasty creatures. Take care that you stay well away from them. Now, take my arms and pull me to the water, deep enough so that I can swim. Please."

Reacting to the urgency in the girl's voice, Haruko clambered over a few rocks and stepped reluctantly onto the pile of seaweed behind the mermaid, grasping her under the arms and tugging. The mermaid's entire tail slid easily out of the gunk, gleaming pearly turquoise in the sun, and Haruko had a hard time not gaping at it as she started to drag the girl across the mucky seaweed toward the water. The color was absolutely beautiful.

At last she got the mermaid clear of the seaweed, towing her backwards across the wet sand and finally into the shallows where the waves were still rolling in, in large lazy curls. "Deeper," the mermaid said. "This is too shallow."

"If I go out any farther, the undertow might get me," Haruko said nervously, risking a glance over her shoulder. "Or even a kappa…"

"There are no kappas in the shallows," the mermaid said with a soft laugh. "Do not worry so, human girl. Even if there were kappas here, I would fight them away because you have saved me."

Reassured, Haruko waded farther into the water, tugging the girl with her. Not till she was nearly up to her neck did the mermaid smile up at her. "I thank you," she said. "You may return to your shores." She paused a moment, floating on her stomach, her tail fins lazily lashing the surface while Haruko treaded water. "Tell me your name, please. I wish to know who has saved me."

"I'm Haruko Miyamoto. What's your name?"

The mermaid smiled. "I am Akima. I am very grateful to you, Haruko Miyamoto. Will you be here tomorrow?"

Haruko considered it. "I don't know—I don't actually live around here. I'm on the northern side of the island. How come?"

Akima regarded her. "I have never had a human friend. Daddy says that there are many good humans, but I had no reason to believe this, until now. I would like to be your friend." She nodded, as if having made a decision, and promised, "I will find you again."

"How?" Haruko asked. "I mean…how will you contact me?"

"Go to the beach closest to your home tomorrow morning," Akima said. "You will know I am there, for I will call you. I thank you for my life, Haruko Miyamoto. I must go now." She smiled one last time, then performed a shallow dive, spraying water into the air before she brushed past, a silent, sinuous wraith. Her gleaming tail flashed bright blue-green in the sun, and then she was gone.

"Wow," muttered Haruko, only just realizing that the sea around her had calmed as long as Akima was with her. Once the mermaid was gone, though, the breakers reared up again and Haruko struck out for shore, letting the waves help to carry her in. She had plodded halfway back to the seaweed, lost in thought about Akima, when she suddenly remembered the triplets. "Oh _no!"_

Haruko raced across the sand and under the pier to the ramp, fairly flying up to the boardwalk and on to the parking lot. To her enormous relief, the stroller still sat just where she had left it, the triplets all still snoozing peacefully. She promptly began wheeling the stroller across the lot toward the Ring Road, intent on taking Susanna, Karina and Tobias home to their parents where they belonged. The whole way back, her mind was running in circles, wondering if her encounter with Akima had been a one-shot, or if the mermaid really did mean to contact her again. All Haruko knew was that, whatever else happened, she had to get to the beach tomorrow morning.

The walk back to the Enstads' house was so long that her clothes were only damp by the time she got there. She pushed the doorbell and waited, so busy reliving her encounter with Akima that she barely registered the fact that it took nearly five minutes for a response to her summons to come. When Leslie opened the door she was actually startled. "Oh, hi, Miss Leslie!"

"Hi, Haruko," Leslie said and grinned. "Finally got them to sleep, huh? You probably never got a chance to enjoy the beach."

Haruko shrugged, trying to be casual. "Oh, well, they were fine. Tobias and Susanna actually fell asleep during the storm, and Karina conked out before it was over. So it was okay." She didn't bother to mention what had happened afterward.

Christian appeared from the living room, decked out in surprising attire for a prince, Haruko thought—a T-shirt with a very faded logo of the flag of Lilla Jordsö on the front and a pair of ragged, bleached-out cutoffs. "So the beach knocked them out after all," he said humorously. "Maybe we'll have some peace for a little while yet. Thank you for taking them this afternoon, Haruko…we appreciate it." He glanced at Leslie, who smiled a very funny little smile, and Haruko hoped she wasn't turning red. At fourteen she was certainly old enough to be savvy to what went on between husbands and wives; and her mother had spoken on any number of occasions about how wildly in love Prince Christian and Miss Leslie were. But it was embarrassing for her to think about it except in the abstract, and for some reason it suddenly brought to mind the moment she'd discovered that Akima wasn't wearing any clothes. She quickly stooped to lift Susanna out of the stroller.

"Are you okay, Haruko? You didn't get sunburned, did you?" Leslie asked, reaching for Karina and gathering the sleeping baby into her arms.

_Oh, drat it all, I_ am _blushing._ "I'm fine, Miss Leslie, really," she murmured.

"Just wondered," Leslie said. "You could've used the triplets' sunscreen if you wanted to." She closed her eyes and cuddled Karina, dropping a tiny kiss on her head.

Christian shouldered Tobias, paused and regarded Haruko with a curious grin. "I guess you managed to enjoy the beach at least a little—it appears you had a swim."

Haruko blinked at him, startled. "Oh, yeah…sort of, I guess you could say that." She bit her lip. "I'll help you put them in their cribs if you want."

"That's fine, thanks, Haruko," Leslie said. "No point in waking them up to wash the last of the sand and the sunscreen off them, that can wait till this evening. I'm glad you called and let us know you found a place to wait out that storm. They didn't seem scared, did they?"

Relieved to be on a neutral topic, Haruko shook her head. "Karina did a little, maybe. She was kind of fretting, so I put her in my lap and talked to her, and she fell asleep after a while. That really was some storm. The beach is covered with seaweed."

"The rotten stinky kind, no doubt," Leslie remarked, wrinkling her nose. "Just as well you brought them home after it was over." They emerged from the stairwell and headed to the triplets' room in a little parade.

"It's nice to see they don't seem to have inherited their mother's morbid fear of thunderstorms," Christian said wickedly.

"Let's hope they don't inherit their father's smug superiority about being fearless," Leslie retorted, and they both laughed. Haruko grinned at their byplay, wondering why her own parents couldn't do that sometimes. They always seemed so formal; maybe that was just their Japanese upbringing. She laid Susanna in her crib and watched Christian and Leslie do the same with Tobias and Karina.

"Well, then, thank you for watching them this afternoon, Haruko," Christian said on their way back downstairs. "We certainly appreciated the chance to be alone for a few hours, and we know it must have been something of an imposition on you, giving up part of your holiday from school."

Haruko grinned. "I haven't been doing anything all week anyway," she said. "Just watching Chikako mostly, and that's boring. Chikako isn't half as much fun to sit for as the triplets are." She returned Christian's grin, accepting the twenty-five dollars he gave her.

"That's only because Chikako's your sister, and you don't have to be with the triplets when they need changing or bathing," Christian said humorously, raising a teasing eyebrow at her. "But thank you again, at any rate. If you'll wait, Leslie will drive you home."

"Thank _you_, Mr. Enstad," Haruko said. "It'll be nice to change into clean clothes."

Christian regarded them thoughtfully and then made a slight face. "Seems you got caught in the seaweed as well," he noted.

Haruko wondered how much Leslie told him about the fantasies she and Mr. Roarke granted every weekend. Did he know there were such things as kappas and mermaids? If he didn't, she didn't want to blurt out her story of meeting Akima and have him laugh at her. "I…um, well, it was kind of hard to avoid," she finally said.

Christian chuckled. "I'm sure it was. Oh, hello, my Rose." Leslie came into the living room, dangling a pair of sandals in her hand, and kissed his cheek.

"I'll be home soon," she promised. "Ready, Haruko?"

Along the way home Haruko debated telling Leslie about Akima, wondered whether she'd be taken seriously if she did, and wound up succumbing to her earlier curiosity. "Miss Leslie…does Prince Christian know you see a lot of weird stuff when you and Mr. Roarke are granting fantasies?" she asked.

"Sure, he knows quite a bit about it. Matter of fact, he eats lunch with us on the weekends, and we pretty much can't help talking shop over the meal." She grinned. "Now, whether he _believes_ we encounter all these things…well, that's debatable. He still gets a funny look on his face when we talk about Mephistopheles and old Roman gods and ghosts, though he seems to have learned to take time travel in stride. He's done it several times by now—even alone." Leslie tossed her a mildly curious glance. "Why do you ask?"

Haruko hoped she sounded nonchalant. "What about…oh, stuff like mermaids?"

"It's been a very long time since the last mermaid encounter we had…for that matter, I was still a teenager. He might not believe it if we had another one, but he'd know better than to argue with us about it." Leslie looked over at her again. "Is there something you want to talk about, Haruko?"

To her own disgust, Haruko chickened out. "No, not really, I was just wondering. I mean…I guess, living on this island, you sort of have to learn to take that stuff for granted."

"Pretty much," Leslie agreed, piloting the car down the street where the Miyamotos rented a townhouse. "Well, here you go. Listen, you'll have this weekend free—Christian's just back from Arcolos, and he's taking a week off before he goes back to work. So he'll be with the triplets."

"Okay, thanks, Miss Leslie," Haruko said and ran for her front door. If she did feel the need to tell someone about Akima, at least she knew she could trust Miss Leslie and Mr. Roarke not to laugh at her. The same wouldn't be true of her family, of course, she noted a bit dourly, catching a glimpse of Katsumi and Chikako in the kitchen shaping homemade rice cakes.

In Japanese Katsumi called out, "Haruko-chan, is that you?"

"Yes, Mama-san," Haruko replied in the same tongue. The language was one of the very few items she retained from her early years in her native land; most of her recollections were misty and fading now. "Miss Leslie brought me home. I need to take a shower."

"Supper will be in two hours," Katsumi said, and Haruko called back an acknowledgment before escaping upstairs. She grabbed clean clothes and climbed into the shower, scrubbing away the sand and salt and seaweed, wondering all the while how one actually went about being friends with a mermaid.


	3. Chapter 3

§ § § -- March 19, 2005

Haruko had been afraid she wouldn't sleep, but all the events at the beach must have tired her out more than she'd known. By the time she blinked awake the clock showed that it was past eight-thirty. "Oh, no," she groaned and leaped out of bed, scrambling into a swimsuit and shorts and frantically yanking a brush through her jet-black hair. The fine straight strands crackled with static as she tossed the brush back onto her dresser, and she tried vainly to smooth them out with her hands before giving up and bounding downstairs.

Through the window over the kitchen sink she saw Katsumi in a lounge chair on the deck, reading a novel in Japanese, while Chikako marched around the back yard pushing a tiny stroller crammed with five or six baby dolls. Haruko stuck her head out the back door, catching her mother's attention. "Mama-san, I'm going out for a while," she said.

"Have you made your bed?" Katsumi asked, a touch of reproval in her voice. "Is your room neat? Did you have breakfast?"

Haruko tried not to groan. "I'll eat on the way," she said, making a note to grab a rice cake or two off the plate on the table.

"Your room, Haruko-chan," Katsumi reminded her. "You must set a good example for your little sister."

Haruko resisted the urge to tell her it never worked, saying only, "Yes, Mama-san" like a dutiful Japanese daughter, and retreated to her bedroom to make her bed and put away the soft cotton night tunic she had slept in. Back downstairs, she got her rice cake, stepped into her rubber wading shoes at the door and made her escape at last.

The Miyamotos lived on a cul-de-sac in a small residential area just off the Ring Road on the western outskirts of Amberville, where in the mid-70s streets had been carved out of the jungle and mostly townhouses and apartment blocks put up. The nearest beach to this was off the town square, and Haruko headed that way now, finishing off her rice cake in short order and stopping at the All-Natural shop in the square long enough to pick up a bottle of pomegranate juice to wash it down. From there she headed for the beach, capping her bottle and then breaking into a run.

This was the beach where Prince Christian liked to run occasionally; she had seen him there a couple of times, splattering through the surf and apparently oblivious to everything around him. She understood why he ran here; not too many people frequented this beach. Even on weekends, when the guest population peaked, it was rarely crowded here. It was still a little early and for the moment the beach was deserted, which suited Haruko just fine. She approached the waterline, sipping frequently from her juice bottle, wondering how long she would have to wait and hoping Akima hadn't forgotten…or that yesterday's rescue hadn't been a dream.

Three seagulls wheeled in the air over her head, singing to one another. Normally she wasn't fond of gulls because of their squealing; she'd always associated a sort of "crocodile-tear" quality to it, a sly plea for sympathy that they really didn't need. But these gulls were oddly musical. Haruko frowned, watching them swoop and climb, and then realized that what she was hearing wasn't the gulls at all. It sounded more like a chorus of three or four female voices, now in harmony, now in monotone, like an ethereal little choir.

Then she heard a splashing in the shallows and wrenched her gaze away from the birds just in time to see a blonde head break the surface. "Hello, Haruko Miyamoto!" called Akima, waving gaily to her.

"Hi, Akima!" Haruko called back, delighted. She tipped back the last of her juice, stuck the empty bottle in the sand where she'd be sure to see it later to properly dispose of it, removed her shorts and left them nearby, and waded into the water toward Akima. "I wasn't sure you'd come. I slept later than I meant to, and I was afraid I'd missed you."

"I slept long myself," Akima said, grinning at her. "When one is tossed madly about by a storm and then thrown upon the sand and blanketed in low-quality seaweed, one tends to need much rest."

They both laughed. "Rescuing you kind of wore me out," Haruko agreed. "But you look a lot better today. You must've put on fresh makeup or something. Lucky you, you're allowed to wear it. Half the girls in my grade do, and Mama-san says I'm way too young. She's so old-fashioned."

By the time she finished this speech Akima was staring blankly at her. "I do not understand you, Haruko Miyamoto. I do not know what 'makeup' is, or a 'grade', and who is 'Mama-san'?"

Haruko laughed, embarrassed. "Well, you have all that glitter in your hair, and you wear that sparkly gold stuff over your eyes. It must be waterproof or something."

"This is not makeup, this is natural," Akima said, her eyes twinkling with amusement. They were the same transparent blue of the waters around them, making Haruko envious; she had always thought her black hair and brown eyes were so ordinary. "If you wish, you may touch, so that you are assured this is my own skin." Akima closed her eyes, and Haruko tentatively traced a fingertip over one of the lids. Sure enough, not only did the gold glitter not come off, she didn't even feel anything except human-like skin.

"Wow, you're right," Haruko said, amazed. "I guess the glitter in your hair is natural too. I wish my hair were like that."

Akima studied her. "Your hair is like the midnight sky, and I have always loved the sky at night. And it shines like the full moon."

Haruko hunched her shoulders self-consciously. "I never thought of it like that. It sounds so poetic, the way you describe it. But the only way we can get our hair and our skin to look like that is to use makeup, or glitter dust that they make for hair."

"Well," Akima said, preening just a little, "not all merpeople have such coloring—only those of us in the royal line. Other mermaids simply look as you do. I have heard that some in the Atlantic Ocean use seaweed to decorate their hair. How common!"

"You're a princess or something?" Haruko asked.

"Yes, of course. My mother is Nyah, Princess of the Seven Seas. Not that I will be any more than a minor princess, you understand, for I am seventy-third in the family." Akima rolled her eyes. "On the other hand, it frees me of royal duties, so that I can do as I wish and have no real obligations, as long as I treat the sea creatures well."

"Seventy-third in line for the throne, huh?" Haruko said.

Akima corrected, "Seventy-third of ninety. That's how many children Mama and Daddy had together. Daddy was once a regular human like you, till he and Mama fell in love and he became a merman."

Haruko whistled softly. "You have eighty-nine brothers and sisters? That's amazing! All I have is a little sister, and she's only seven. Mama-san and Papa-san wanted another baby, but Mama-san miscarried and she can't have any more. Those are my parents," she added at Akima's odd look. "I was born in Japan, but I've lived here since I was six."

"Oh, of course, of course…that explains how you know of kappas," Akima said and shuddered. "Oh, how I hate kappas. The stars of nightmares, they are. One of them once tried to eat my youngest brother. Daddy beat it off with the skull from a hammerhead shark he killed for Mama on their honeymoon." Akima seemed to come suddenly back to the present. "Oh, I am talking in whirlpools. Why don't you tell me of your life on dry land? It will help to pass the time."

"Pass the time?" Haruko echoed.

Akima made a face. "I suppose I should tell you. My family is somewhere very far away from here, on their way to Pitcairn Island. The storm caught us all by surprise, and I was separated from them. It was unfamiliar ocean, and I lost all my senses. When I knew myself again, I was lying where you found me yesterday."

"Oh my God, and they just left you, without looking for you?" Haruko gasped.

"When we travel in our school, there are nearly a hundred of us, and Mama and Daddy can't possibly keep track of us all. We are all old enough that we are expected to be able to keep up with the rest of the family. But the storm was much stronger than any other I have known. I can now only wait for them to realize my absence and to return for me. But while I am waiting, I would be entertained to know what life on land is like."

And that was how Haruko talked herself nearly hoarse, describing her humdrum daily life at home and at school, frequently interrupted by Akima's requests for explanations of nearly everything. The mermaid seemed fascinated, and by the time Haruko began to lose her voice, Akima had decided that her life under the sea was as boring as they came.

Haruko was astonished. "But how can that be? What makes it so boring, when you have so much to see? I mean, geez. When I was in third grade, we learned that almost three-quarters of this planet is covered with water. There is _waaaaaay_ more ocean floor to explore than there is land to travel. People have even visited Antarctica. But no human's ever been to the Marianas Trench, for one thing, and cripes…when the _Titanic_ went down it took them almost _seventy-five years_ to find the wreck! It was lying in freezing-cold water two miles down and nobody'd ever been there before!"

Akima sniffed. "I have, and so have a great many merpeople. You do not understand, Haruko Miyamoto. You say that three-quarters of this earth is covered with water and that this means we have much more to see. Well, _I have seen it!"_ The last sentence came out with an imperial impatience that startled Haruko. "That leaves one-fourth of the world I have _not_ seen, and it is all land. I have never been on land."

"What about yesterday?" Haruko broke in.

"That was an accident! And all I could see around me was the same boring material I always see: sand, seaweed, and water! Oh, I saw a few rocks, yes, and that strange wooden structure with the colorful human boxes mounted on it, but I saw nothing else. Bah! I am simply bored!" Akima paused to catch her breath, then focused on Haruko, her high color suddenly that of excitement. "Suppose we were to trade places? You wish to see my world and I wish to see yours. Would it not be wonderful?"

Haruko gaped at her, so taken by the idea that all she could see in her mind's eye was herself, decked out with a tail as gorgeous as Akima's, swimming gracefully among schools of brightly colored fish, exploring shipwrecks, making friends with dolphins, outwitting sharks…maybe even meeting some cute merboy. "Oh wow, wouldn't it just! It'd be positively awesome! I could do anything I wanted, go anywhere I liked…" She sputtered to a halt and stared at Akima with sudden pity. "And poor you, you'd be stuck going to school and babysitting my sister. Maybe it's not such a great idea, at least not for you."

"Better to babysit merely one human sister than twenty annoying little merbrats who never listen to a single thing I say. I want to do it."

"I do too…only, how are we going to switch? You have to be in the water or your tail and skin'll dry out, right? And I don't have gills, so I can't breathe underwater."

Akima thought for a moment. "What place is this? I have wondered ever since I woke on that beach. What do you call it?"

"Oh, this is Fantasy Island," Haruko said.

Akima went very still and gawked at her, her eyes slowly getting bigger and bigger till Haruko was afraid they might spring out of her head like a cartoon. "Fantasy Island!" the mermaid breathed, as if invoking the name of some sacred place. "Oh, I never dreamed in all my life that I should be so fortunate as to come here!" She grabbed Haruko's arm. "Is that wonderful Mr. Cork still here?"

Haruko couldn't help it and started to giggle. "His name's Mr. Roarke, and yes, he's still here, still owns the island. Mama-san's friends with his daughter, and I babysit her triplets a lot."

"Mama knew Mr. Roarke for many, many years…centuries even. When she met Daddy, she thought never to see him again. Once Mama even thought she was in love with Mr. Roarke…but oh, that is another story. You must ask Mr. Roarke, Haruko Miyamoto! It is the only way we can exchange our boring lives! Will you do it?"

Haruko bit her lip. "It's gonna be awhile," she admitted. "Usually I babysit Miss Leslie's triplets on the weekends, but not this one, 'cause Prince Christian just got back from Arcolos and he's taking a week off from work, and he's staying at home with the babies all week, I guess…and Mr. Roarke and Miss Leslie are both working this weekend, and then on Monday I can't 'cause I have to go back to school…"

"When can you ask?" Akima persisted.

"I don't know," Haruko said helplessly. "I probably can't do it till at least next Friday, and even then I'd probably have to take my pesky little sister with me 'cause I always have to watch her after school. Oh, drat it! Maybe this won't work after all!"

Akima frowned. "It _will_ work, because I am a princess and I get what I want. And I will get this too—for both you and me. I will think about it, Haruko Miyamoto. When I know what to do, I will call you. As soon as you hear me, come quickly to this beach."

"Okay," Haruko promised. "Oh…before you go, there's one thing I should tell you. You don't have to use both my first and my last name. Just call me Haruko."

"Oh, I am glad you have told me. When we have exchanged lives, I will not sound so strange now when I call someone's name. Oh yes, we must do this, and we will. If I must wait for my family to return for me, I will not be bored while I wait. Do not worry, Haruko, my friend. I will think of a way!" Akima beamed at her, then bobbed below the waves and twisted away, iridescent tail reflecting bright flashes of sunlight into Haruko's eyes. Haruko watched her go till her form was swallowed by the blue-green depths, then made her way back onto the sand, retrieving her bottle and shorts and heading back to the town square. If there was a way, she was sure, Akima would find it._ Wouldn't it be cool if we could actually pull it off? Just imagine what she'd do to stupid David Omamara the first time he made fun of her—she'd probably invite him to the beach and drown him, and he'd deserve it, the smug jerk. And imagine the incredible report I could write for my science class—I could see exotic fishes right up close. That's one thing I bet nobody else on this island's ever done…be a mermaid for a while._ Giggling to herself with anticipation, Haruko broke into a skipping run, taking her time about going back home.

§ § § -- March 21, 2005

Leslie came into the house Monday morning to find the triplets scattered around the living room and Christian on the sofa, engrossed in applications. Susanna was just pulling herself onto her feet using the coffee table; Karina, having recently mastered the art of crawling, was trying to keep up with Ingrid, who was doing laundry; and Tobias had managed to untie his father's shoe while remaining completely undetected by the shoe's owner. Leslie stopped, took in the scene and started to laugh. "Christian, my darling, are you watching the triplets, or are they watching you?"

Christian's head came up sharply in startlement and he looked around for a second or two, then added his laughter to hers. "I suppose you'd have to say they're watching me," he admitted good-naturedly. "How was the weekend, then?"

"Successful as usual," said Leslie, removing her shoes and coming into the living room. "Susanna Shannon, just look at you, baby girl! Before we know it you'll be walking, and then you'll get yourself into every kind of mischief, won't you?"

"Ya-ya-ya-ya-ya," Susanna chattered happily back, and this seeming agreement made her parents laugh again. Christian took in the sight of his little daughter on her feet, clinging to the edge of the coffee table, and shook his head with pride.

"They're Enstads…they're going to be overachievers," he said, unaware of Leslie's half-incredulous, half-indulgent grin. Karina had been crawling across the room, making a beeline for her mother, and Leslie picked her up now as Christian went on, "My nephews and nieces were fast developers too. I seem to remember during my late teens that it felt as if every time we had a press conference, one of them had hit another milestone and it had to be reported for the people. I think maybe we should have a blog, my Rose…keep visitors to the royal website informed of the triplets' progress as they grow."

"Boy, you don't have much paternal pride, do you," Leslie remarked with amused irony, sitting beside him and settling Karina in her lap. "Who's going to write this wonderful new blog? And incidentally, why do you have your shoes on in the house?" They had always followed the Scandinavian custom of going shoeless indoors.

The last question made Christian look down at his feet and break into more laughter at the sight of his son yanking on his shoelaces. "I guess I was pretty absorbed if I didn't even notice Tobias untying my shoes," he observed, "much less forgot to take off the shoes in the first place. Actually, I had a call yesterday afternoon from the office, telling me I had quite a stack of applications for the open position and suggesting I come and pick them up to go through at my leisure. I didn't manage to do that till this morning, and I want to get someone installed as soon as I can. Perhaps if I do, that empty desk won't be such a reminder."

Leslie nodded sympathetically. "How are they over there?"

"Doing well enough, I think, though understandably they tell me it's quite strange without Mateo. They sent Anna-Kristina a joint sympathy card a few days ago. Oh, and as for your question about the blog, I think you should write it. Mothers always enjoy bragging about their children, don't they?"

Leslie shot him a dirty look that made him grin. "This from the guy who says his children are going to be overachievers. Tell you what, Proud Papa Prince, suppose I write the English version of this blog and you translate it into _jordiska_—or better yet, just write your own version in _jordiska_. You shouldn't be allowed to get off easy by copying my words."

"Hmm, that sounds reasonable," Christian said and grinned again. "You know how much I enjoy tinkering with websites, even our own family's. So you and Mr. Roarke had another weekend of smooth sailing, then, did you?" He set aside the applications and lifted Tobias into his lap.

"Yup. There was one odd little thing on Saturday morning, though. We were still at the plane dock greeting the guests, and Father got this funny look on his face and stared at nothing—as if he were listening. But when I asked him what was wrong, he just shrugged it off." She put Karina into Christian's lap beside Tobias and stretched out her hands toward Susanna, who was beginning to fret from frustration at not knowing how to sit down from her standing position. "Come on, sweetie, take Mommy's hands. Anyway, I could swear I've seen that look on him before, I just can't place it yet. Good girl, Susanna!" Susanna had latched onto Leslie's hands and was walking toward her, one hesitant step at a time.

"Why do I have the feeling that within a month, she'll be doing that on her own?" Christian mused, looking on with pride gleaming from his eyes. "Well, whatever Mr. Roarke may or may not have encountered, you're more than likely to see the results sometime in the next few weekends."

"Probably so," Leslie said, hoisting Susanna into her lap. "I bet it'll be interesting, at the absolute minimum."


	4. Chapter 4

§ § § -- March 23, 2005

They'd been studying royalty in Social Sciences, and Haruko was dreaming that she was being crowned queen of Fantasy Island, in the presence of Prince Christian and all the other royalty in Europe; the Emperor of Japan; and Akima with her entire merman and mermaid family. Cheers swelled around her as a huge bejeweled crown was placed atop her head, and above all she could hear an ethereal chorus heralding her new status. "I want to thank my parents for having me," Haruko declaimed grandly, "and Mr. Roarke for allowing me to rule for him while he's granting fantasies…"

The chorus cut her off, growing so loud that it drowned out even the cheering throngs; then the entire dream dissolved as Haruko surfaced into consciousness. The only thing remaining was the chorus, which made her sit up in bed and blink in disbelief. It was definitely Akima's summons—but at two-thirty in the morning?

Haruko debated it for only a few seconds, because she was afraid that silly chorus would wake everybody up. She slipped out of bed, donned a tank top and shorts, and made a point of sliding her house key into her pocket. She'd read enough stories and seen enough TV shows in which kids tried to sneak out in the middle of the night, for reasons that were obviously very good ones but that the parents never understood, and they always got caught because of something stupid like forgetting the key. Briefly she considered trying to make up her bed to look as if someone were sleeping in it, but it was too much trouble; and she didn't know if she could do it right anyway. She was just going to have to hope that Akima wouldn't take too long to explain whatever idea she'd come up with. Yawning, she slipped out of her room, eased the door mostly shut, and descended the stairs, hugging the wall. She'd learned years ago that the treads creaked in the middle but not on the sides, and had made many a successful midnight foray to the kitchen by exploiting that fact.

At the door she pulled on her wading shoes, then sneaked out, locking the door and catching the screen door before it slammed. Closing it with a soft click, she scuttled across the yard on her toes and then broke into a full-out run, keeping to lit streets. The town square looked surprisingly spooky at this time of night, despite the nearly full moon.

On the beach, she anxiously scanned the water; the wafting chorus had stayed with her since she'd awakened, and now it was just annoying white noise. When Akima's head popped out of the water, the first thing Haruko said was, "Who's doing all that singing anyway? Can't you stop it?"

"No, it is the sound of my earthly presence," Akima said, which as far as Haruko was concerned meant exactly nothing. "That is not important, Haruko. I have found a way for us to have what we both wish."

"Really? How?" Haruko asked.

"We will call Mr. Roarke," the mermaid said. "Together. In two nights' time, come to this beach when you hear the summons. Mr. Roarke could always hear Mama when she called to him, and I know he will hear me. You need only to be here, and we will make our request of him together."

"Do I have to drag myself out of bed in the middle of the night again?" Haruko grumbled through another yawn.

Akima sounded impatient. "Do you wish all the world to know of our business? You must trust me. Two nights from tonight. Now you may return to your sleep."

"Where're you gonna be?" Haruko called out.

"Where I have been since you rescued me," said Akima. "The seaweed here is simply divine—when it is not smothering me on the sand, of course. I am hungry. Sleep well, my friend Haruko." She waved, then dove away with a splash of her tail.

"Yeah, right," Haruko muttered. "Only if Mama-san and Papa-san don't catch me out of the house." Alarmed at the thought, she ran all the way home, and though she managed to get back into her own bed undetected, it took her almost an hour to fall asleep again.

‡ ‡ ‡

"Well, I guess I'd better get down to the high school," Leslie said, rising from the chair in front of Roarke's desk and picking up her purse. "I'm supposed to meet Christian so we can talk to the ninth-grade social-sciences classes."

"Oh, yes, you mentioned that," Roarke said. "So they are studying royalty?"

Leslie nodded, pausing long enough to squint at him. "Are you all right? You seem a little absent-minded today."

"I was awakened last night," Roarke said, frowning, "by something I had expected not to hear again. I suspect I will be forced to deal with it sooner or later."

"Not Mephistopheles, I hope," Leslie said.

Roarke glanced up and chuckled. "I apologize if I alarmed you unnecessarily, my child. No, I don't believe it's as serious as that, but I do admit to being very puzzled. Don't worry about it for now. I will notify you if I need your assistance with the problem. You'd better hurry, you don't want to be late."

Leslie picked up Christian at home and drove down to the high school, experiencing a sense of nostalgia as she stopped the car in front of the main entrance. "Boy, this is gonna bring back a few memories," she remarked with a chuckle. "I'll probably feel like I'm fourteen again myself."

"I hope not," Christian said, grinning. "I'd really be robbing the cradle then, wouldn't I?" She made a face at him and he laughed. "I'm afraid I can't claim the same nostalgia for my own school days, but then you know why, of course. Do you expect to see any familiar faces here during our talks?" They were supposed to speak to the entire ninth grade at once, in a special assembly.

"The only current ninth-graders I know are Camille's and Katsumi's kids," Leslie said as they entered the large hall where the offices were located. "I don't expect them to have too many questions. Camille says David hates school and does barely enough work to earn C's, and I figure whatever Haruko might need to know, she can ask next time she comes over to sit for the triplets."

"I'm sure we'll have plenty of questions from other students," Christian said mildly. He paused beside Leslie, who knocked on the half-open door to the principal's office. The secretary inside spied them and grinned.

"Hello, Miss Leslie and Your Highness," she said. "You're right on time, and the ninth grade should be headed for the theater right about now. Just come with me."

They followed the secretary to Fantasy Island High's theater, which served as the venue for all school plays, concerts, assemblies, and student art and science fairs. It was a very pretty theater with stadium seating and an excellent lighting and sound system; since the school fielded no sports teams, due to the prohibitive cost of shuttling them to Hawaii or hosting Hawaiian teams for games, it had had the resources to devote to its drama, creative writing, and music departments. Christian murmured an impressed phrase in _jordiska_ when he saw it. "This is beautiful," he said.

"The acoustics are fabulous, too," the secretary said. "You and Miss Leslie won't even need a microphone, Your Highness, but we'll have teachers going around with portable ones in case anyone has questions for you. We've got you a couple of fancy stools to sit on too." She indicated the stage, where two tall stools whose seats had sturdy backs sat at front center stage. "If you want some water or something…"

"If we're to be here only an hour, I think we'll survive," Christian said good-naturedly. "So how many students altogether are we addressing?"

"A little more than a hundred, Your Highness," said the secretary. "We have a lot of turnover here because about two-thirds of the student body comes from the military base, and the servicemen and women are constantly being transferred; but the student population stays pretty steady. Oh, good, here comes Miss Kinau." She indicated a native woman whom Leslie recognized as Myeko's one-time drama teacher. "Good luck, and thanks."

The teacher and the secretary greeted each other as they passed, and Miss Kinau then shook hands with Christian and Leslie. "How's Myeko Sensei getting along?" she inquired of Leslie. "Still working for the island newspaper?"

"Yep, in between raising three kids and dodging the animals her husband treats in his vet practice," Leslie said, grinning. "Do we have an agenda?"

"Not really, just tell the kids about your titles and what they mean, and maybe describe a typical day in the life of a royal. Then we'll open the floor for questions." She checked her watch. "I think they're about ready—I hear the crowds getting restless out there. Looks like it's showtime."

"A typical day in the life of a royal?" Leslie murmured to Christian, who looked a little nauseated. "Sorry, my love, I'm afraid that's your department."

Christian sighed theatrically and muttered back, "Oh, to be a common bricklayer."

Leslie snickered loudly. "Hey, if you really want to be a common bricklayer, we can handle that for you. Remember King Peter from Anatolia? Just before his coronation, when he was still just Crown Prince Peter, Father and Tattoo granted his fantasy to know what it was like to be a nobody, a commoner. To say the least, it was an eye-opener for him, from what I remember Father telling me."

Christian looked at her in surprise. "Oh? Intriguing." He straightened his suit jacket and trailed her onstage, taking a seat beside her.

"Father apparently knew him from early on in his life," Leslie said, just before the stage curtains opened and Miss Kinau addressed the assembled students.

"Good afternoon, ninth-graders. We've been lucky to have Prince Christian, of Lilla Jordsö, come here to speak to us this afternoon about being royal. He'll tell you what the life of royalty is like, and then he and Miss Leslie will answer any questions you have. Well, Your Highness, they're all yours." The teacher grinned at him, and he chuckled softly before turning to the students.

"I'm afraid your teacher stole my opening lines," he said humorously. "I was going to introduce myself, but now I may as well just launch directly into my speech. Well, judging from the fact that you're studying royalty at the moment, you'll all be aware that Lilla Jordsö is one of fewer than a dozen remaining European monarchies…" From there he went on to tell the students a bit about the _jordisk_ royal family before outlining a day in the royal life. Leslie listened curiously, wondering just whose life he was describing, since Christian himself had tried so hard to live anything _but_ the "typical royal life".

"…And so that's what a prince or princess can expect," he concluded. "Perhaps a little less glamorous than the fairy tales would have it, hm?" The students laughed, and he grinned back. "All right, then, I think we can start taking questions."

Hands flapped in the air like flags, and teachers scrambled around the floor with microphones while Christian chose a girl in the fourth row. "Your Highness, do people always have to call you 'Your Highness' all the time? Even your friends and family?"

Christian grinned. "Most people do," he said, "but family and close friends aren't required to do that. If poor Leslie were forced to call me 'Your Highness' as a matter of course, we'd probably be divorced within a few months." Everyone laughed. "On the other hand, since she's my wife, she's a princess, so it's rather a moot point. At any rate, my family and friends simply call me Christian. Who's next?"

The boy he chose barely waited long enough for the mike to reach him before he put forth his question. "I've got distant relatives living in Anatolia," he said. "Does your country have good diplomatic relations with them, like you do with Arcolos and stuff?"

"That we do, yes. Anatolia is even smaller than Arcolos, and for centuries we've had especially warm relations with fellow small countries. I never had the privilege of visiting, but relations between Anatolia and Lilla Jordsö are as good as between us and Arcolos. And King Peter and Queen Christine attended a number of royal Christmas balls when I was in my early twenties. Funny you should ask, Leslie was just telling me that King Peter made a visit here when he was still a prince."

Another student wanted to know, "What do you do if you meet a king or a queen or an emperor? We learned that kings and queens are the biggest ranks of all and that everybody else has to bow and scrape to them."

"I wouldn't call it bowing and scraping," Christian chuckled. "But we do have to pay deference to kings and queens when we meet. Princes and princesses are on the same level we are, and everyone else from dukes and duchesses on down ranks below us. Generally we merely bow or curtsy at first meeting, and comport ourselves as commoners and nobility would do. Yes, you in the front row there…"

"This is for Miss Leslie. Do you have to be something really hoity-toity to marry a prince? I mean, you hear about the British royals marrying commoners, but even Princess Diana was Lady Diana before she married Prince Charles, and I think Prince Edward's wife was loaded before they were married. I mean, what if you're just a secretary or a construction worker, do you think somebody like that'd have a chance with royalty?"

"Oh my God," said Leslie, blinking, and laughed. "Well, I suppose you could go by my example. I'm not nobility or anything like that…" She paused, growing aware that Christian was staring at her. "What's the matter, my love?"

"Did I hear that right? 'Prince Edward's wife was loaded'?" he asked dubiously, touching off a roar of laughter from their audience.

Giggling madly, she leaned over to him and explained, "It's just slang—'loaded' means rich. I think the implication was that you have to at least be from a rich family in order to even run in the same circles as royalty."

"Oh, I see," he said, laughing too. "I had images of Princess Sophie carrying around an entire arsenal of loaded weapons." Her giggles became laughter, and he squeezed her hand before they sat up and returned their attention to their audience. Leslie finished replying to the question, and then Christian chose another student.

"If you're noble or a commoner," this boy said, "and you marry a royal, what about your family? Do they become royalty too, or do they have to bow to you all the time? Does Mr. Roarke have to bow to you every time you see him?"

"No," said Christian, laughing again. "In my example, Leslie became royal when we were married, but Mr. Roarke didn't. Only the spouse gains a title; the family remains at whatever rank they've always held, if any. But it's not really necessary for immediate family to pay such deference. Mr. Roarke doesn't do that with us, there's no need."

They answered eight or nine more questions before someone in the very back finally stood up and Christian indicated her. "Yes?"

"Do you maybe know of royalty in…uh, other places?" came the hesitant query. Leslie and Christian looked at each other in surprise, both recognizing Haruko Miyamoto's voice.

Christian squinted out into the audience. "What sort of 'other places'?" he asked. "Do you mean in other countries? There are still non-ruling royal families all over Europe, from a time when Greece, Germany, Poland, Romania, Italy and many others had monarchs. They usually keep to themselves, but now and then they appear at social or diplomatic functions. Unfortunately many of them are exiles and forced to live in countries other than the ones their ancestors once ruled. And some countries in Africa have ruling royalty, though you don't hear of them so much. Does that answer your question?"

"Well…" Haruko began.

But Miss Kinau stepped forward just then. "I'm afraid that's all we have time for," she said. "Thank you for coming today, Your Highness and Miss Leslie. You may return to your classes, students." Kids promptly arose from their seats and streamed toward the exit, while Christian and Leslie slid down from the stools and stretched gratefully.

Miss Kinau had just offered to show them to the door when Leslie noticed Haruko standing in front of the stage, an anxious look on her face. "Actually," she said, "I think I can remember the way out…I did go to school here once myself. I think we have someone who's still interested."

Miss Kinau followed her gaze and frowned a little. "Don't be late for your class, young lady," she admonished.

"I won't," Haruko said, and Miss Kinau smiled at Christian and Leslie before leaving the stage. Haruko watched her go, then boosted herself off the floor and climbed onto the stage to join the Enstads. "Gosh, I was afraid I'd miss you."

"Did I answer your question all right?" Christian asked.

Haruko looked sheepish. "It was a great answer, Mr. Enstad…it's just that…I had, uh, something else in mind actually. When I said 'other places', I kind of meant…um…well, the Seven Seas."

Christian stared blankly at her, but Leslie's eyes widened; a feeling of foreboding sluiced through her. "The Seven Seas?" she repeated warily.

Haruko nodded, biting her lip. "I know this is gonna sound really weird…"

Something clicked deep in Leslie's brain. "Haruko," she said slowly, "is this connected with your question the other day about whether Father and I had ever seen mermaids?"

"Mermaids!" Christian said.

Leslie slipped her hand into his but kept her attention on Haruko, who nodded, a hopeful look suddenly lighting her face. "I just wanted to know if there really is a Princess of the Seven Seas."

"Yes, as a matter of fact, there is," Leslie said. "Father used to know her."

Haruko absorbed that, working her lip like a block of bubble gum and sucking her cheeks in. Then she focused on Leslie. "Do you know what her name was?"

"Nyah," Leslie replied, very wary now. "Why, Haruko?"

Haruko cleared her throat and abruptly turned scarlet. "Just…thought I'd try for some extra credit in Social Sciences," she muttered. "Thanks, Miss Leslie… see you later." She fled the stage before either Christian or Leslie could stop her.

Then Christian snapped out of his disbelief and turned to Leslie. "What's this 'Princess of the Seven Seas' business?" he wanted to know, his voice a little ominous. "Should we tell Kazuo and Katsumi that their daughter needs professional help?"

"No, my love, Haruko doesn't need professional help at all," Leslie said, staring after the girl even though she'd long since vanished. "But I do think she needs Father's help."


	5. Chapter 5

§ § § -- March 25, 2005

Roarke stared for several seconds at Leslie once she'd finished telling her tale; then his face cleared and he nodded slowly. "That may explain a great deal," he said, half to himself. "I have been hearing a summons now and then, lately."

"I thought you seemed as if you were listening to something," Leslie said. "Do you think Nyah might have cast some kind of spell over Haruko, maybe?"

"Not a bad guess, my child," Roarke said with a smile, "but there are two problems with it. First, we have heard nothing from Nyah since Duke McCall became a merman and her husband, from which I can infer that our old friend is completely content with him and would thus have no reason to cause any further trouble. Second, the summonses I've been hearing are not quite those of Nyah. The…uh, choruses, if you will, seem…shall we say, less full. There seem to be fewer voices singing."

Leslie took this in with a few slight nods. "Do you think Haruko's in any trouble?"

"That, I can't answer at the moment," Roarke said. "But I have a feeling that the young lady will eventually find herself in over her head, and she'll seek me out. I will let you know if I need your assistance."

The day passed uneventfully till a couple of hours after supper; Roarke was alone in the house, for even Mariki and her staff had gone home for the night. He was refreshing his memory about the fantasies for the weekend, as he always did of a Friday evening, when he heard it again—the summons he'd told Leslie about. It was faint, but he could hear it very plainly. Something about its quality told him that he was meant to hear this particular call, and he arose to investigate.

He took a jeep into town, parked in the little alley that led to the beach the residents usually used, and followed the sound of the ethereal singing call till he found the more secluded section of sand where Christian had an occasional habit of running. The moon was just about full, and in its gentle silvery light he could easily make out the form of a person standing not far from the waterline, and a human head bobbing in the shallows.

"Is that the man we seek?" he heard a voice call from the water.

The figure on the shoreline whipped around to face him, and he smiled when he recognized it. "Ah, good evening, Haruko," he said warmly. "What brings you to the beach at such an hour, and who might your friend be?"

"This is Akima," said Haruko, gesturing at the bobbing head. "She's a mermaid."

"That I know," Roarke said humorously, studying the hopeful-looking face that gazed at him. "So it's your summons I have been hearing of late, young lady."

Akima seemed a little sheepish. "Yes, but I have great reason to call to you. So you are the miraculous Mr. Roarke!"

That made Roarke laugh. " 'Miraculous' may be a matter of opinion. My immediate interest is your precise identity. Do you happen to know Nyah?"

"Yes, she is my mother," Akima said.

Roarke grinned at that; Nyah's influence was clear in Akima's speech pattern, flowery and musical in the older mermaid's style. "That explains the chorus, then. Much like Nyah's, but not as full, if you'll pardon my saying so."

"Mama has twenty voices that sing out her earthly presence when she is on land, but I am merely a minor princess and I have but three," Akima admitted with a little sigh. "Mama is now Queen of the Seven Seas, you know."

"The news came to me some time ago," Roarke said, still smiling. "Tell me, Akima, how do you happen to know Haruko?"

Akima beamed. "Haruko is my friend; she saved my life but a week ago. I had been on my way to Pitcairn Island with my family, and a terrible storm churned the ocean and raised much seaweed—the low-quality variety, of course." She made a face and Roarke stifled a laugh. "The water boiled so furiously that I no longer knew the surface from the bottom, and I was tossed about most violently. When I knew myself once more, I lay upon a beach under a great pile of the vilest seaweed the South Pacific has to offer. Can you imagine the horror, Mr. Roarke, that only the worst kind of our staple food seems to wash upon the shores of land? Little wonder humans find it so repulsive. If they could only taste the savory variety we grow in the deepest depths." She giggled. "But I digress from my tale. I saw no one around me, but I had hopes that some friendly denizen of the sea might lend me assistance, so I began to call for help. The only one to respond was Haruko. She proved herself very worthy of my friendship…and now we have a request to make of you."

"Both of you?" Roarke asked, looking at Haruko long enough to make her blush.

"We both kind of thought of it at the same time, Mr. Roarke," Haruko said, clearing her throat and nervously shifting her weight. "Akima's bored with her life in the ocean, and I'm bored with my life on land. I mean, all I ever do is go to school and babysit my sister, practically. Not that I'm bored with babysitting for the triplets or anything…it's just…well, I mean, I do that only on the weekends. Except I'm not doing it this weekend, 'cause Miss Leslie told me Prince Christian was taking some time off and he'd be doing it. Um…anyway, we thought we'd ask you if you'd, uh…grant us a fantasy."

"A fantasy!" said Roarke, casting a few glances between Haruko and Akima.

"I have sixty-eight dollars saved up, so I can pay you," Haruko offered earnestly.

"If it is payment you require, I can offer you my pearl necklace," Akima put in. "See? It is made of the finest natural pearls to be found off the coast of Japan."

"Well…" Roarke began.

Akima interrupted, "Is it not enough? I can bring you more. Oh, Mr. Roarke, can you not understand? I have seen all there is to see beneath the ocean. I have swum every coral reef, dived every trench, explored every shipwreck, played in every whirlpool. I have taken luxurious steam baths at undersea volcanoes and cooled the heated summer days with excursions beneath icebergs. I have challenged hurricane-churned waters and relaxed in the glassiest of tidal pools. But I have done it all, and nothing new remains! Now I want to know what it is like to be a human and live upon the land."

"And I'd like to be a mermaid and see all those places Akima's so sick of," Haruko added, caught up in the mermaid's excitement. "Every day I go to school, come home, do my homework, watch Chikako, do what Mama-san and Papa-san tell me. The kids from Coral Island treat us Fantasy Islanders like we're stuck up, and David Omamara keeps making fun of me, and I'm having trouble in Social Sciences…my parents don't have time to even take me and Chikako to the amusement park, and there's no place to go shopping here, and I'm not allowed to take the ferry over to Coral Island yet, and I'm still not old enough for a driver's license, and I can't get a job, and I don't even have a bike—"

Roarke raised his hands in surrender, laughing despite himself. "I believe you have made your point quite effectively, Haruko!" he teased. The girl smiled sheepishly, and he patted her shoulder. "Both of you have made your points beautifully, and I would tell you not to worry about payment for your fantasy—but for one problem. Are your parents aware of your wishes?"

Haruko and Akima looked at each other, both with thwarted expressions. Finally Haruko admitted, "My parents don't even know we know each other."

"And my parents do not even realize I am here," Akima added. "I have been here since last week, awaiting their return, so that I may rejoin them and return home. But till that time, I am quite free to do as I will, I daresay. After all, minor though it be, I am still a princess of the Seven Seas."

"That may be," Roarke said, amused. "Unfortunately, Haruko is not; and I have no particular wish to incur her parents' wrath by granting her wish without their knowledge." He smiled at Akima. "Furthermore, your parents may be quite displeased with me as well, for not consulting them first."

"But it is for a mere week!" Akima protested. "My family is to spend an entire month at Pitcairn. They will not interrupt their vacation simply to hunt for me. After all, they have eighty-nine other children to fuss over. What do they need with me? If they were truly so worried about me, Mr. Roarke, they would have come for me by this time."

Haruko said hopefully, "Papa-san works for you, Mr. Roarke, doesn't he? You could insist, 'cause you're his boss…"

Roarke could tell from her tone that she knew she was grasping at straws, and he chuckled. "A decent boss doesn't make such demands of his employees, Haruko, and I would never put your father in that position. Perhaps, Akima, I could grant you your side of this fantasy, but it is impossible for me to do the same for you, Haruko, unless your mother and father are made aware of this."

"If I tell them, will you do it?" Haruko asked.

Roarke chuckled. "It occurs to me, my dear young ladies, that there are other problems here than merely notifying your respective parents. Think of the difficulties that could arise for each of you once you had, uh, exchanged places. Akima, you know very little of the ways of humans. Merely trading in your tail for a pair of legs won't give you knowledge of the human world—just ask your mother." He grinned at that memory. "And Haruko, the same is true of you for the sea, which is a far vaster arena than land. Each of you would be completely lost in the other's world. Has that occurred to you?"

Both girl and mermaid were quiet for a good minute; then Haruko reluctantly admitted, "I guess we didn't think it through that far."

"What, then, would you suggest?" Akima wanted to know.

"I should think that, provided that at least Haruko's parents are told of this little venture and have given their permission, you might each spend a weekend in the other's world—but at separate times. This weekend, perhaps, Akima might become human for a couple of days, and Haruko, you would be her guide. Then, next weekend, you can become a temporary mermaid, and Akima will in turn guide you through her world. What do you think? Would that be satisfactory to both of you?"

Again Akima and Haruko fell silent, considering the option; Haruko was the first to speak. "Actually, I think that makes sense. Don't you, Akima? It might be an adventure to do it at the same time by ourselves, but it'd be an awful lot scarier. If we take turns, then we could hang out together, and it'd be less scary and probably even more exciting 'cause we both know there's someone with us who knows everything you have to know. And anyway, I don't think I could fight off kappas and sharks by myself."

"Now that you say this, I think it might be worth changing our plans," Akima mused. "Yes, I think I like this. Perhaps your school will be a little less daunting…"

"Well, we don't have school on the weekends," Haruko said.

Akima made a face. "You don't? But that is a large part of your life, is it not?" She turned to Roarke. "Surely you could extend my side of the fantasy so that I can attend school with Haruko for a day. Just one short day."

Roarke smiled, more amused than ever. "Perhaps, perhaps. We can discuss that a bit later. For the moment, I suggest that you, Akima, come to this very beach tomorrow morning, say about six, and I will perform the transformation necessary for you to get along on dry land. You'll come back to the main house with me." Akima nodded eagerly. "As for you, Haruko, are both your parents home now?" When she nodded, he said, "Good. I'll come to your home with you, and we will speak with them as to your part of this fantasy. If they agree, we will make arrangements later about your transformation and what responsibilities Akima will take on so that you are safe during your time in the ocean."

"That sounds awesome, Mr. Roarke," said Haruko with relief. "I'm glad you're coming with me. I didn't really want to talk to my parents alone—they'd just say no."

Roarke laughed. "I'll see what I can do, but I make no promises, you understand. It's entirely up to your mother and father. Akima, I will see you tomorrow morning."

"Yes, yes, I will be here!" Akima agreed excitedly. "Good night, and all luck to you, Haruko!" She didn't wait for a response but dove away with a happy splash.

Roarke and Haruko retreated across the sand to the jeep; and once they were on the way to the Miyamotos' townhouse, Haruko remarked with a sigh, "Akima sure is lucky. She doesn't have to face her mom and dad."

Roarke grinned. "Just between you and me, Haruko, I don't think Akima will get away as scot-free as you believe. Sooner or later I expect word will get back to Nyah, and there will certainly be consequences then. I daresay that, all in all, you are getting the better end of that bargain." Haruko grinned reluctantly, and he parked in front of the townhouse and escorted her up the front walk.

In Japanese Haruko announced hers and Roarke's presence, and Kazuo and Katsumi both appeared from other rooms. Chikako, dressed in pajamas, came too, smiling shyly up at Roarke while Kazuo shook hands with him. Katsumi performed a shallow bow of respect, then inquired, "Is Haruko trouble, Mr. Roarke?"

"Not at all, Katsumi," Roarke assured her. "In fact, she has a request to make of you, a rather large one—which is why I am with her. Perhaps you'd like to sit down."

Half an hour later, Katsumi and Kazuo were both sitting in stunned silence, looking as if they hoped this was a nightmare that would end shortly; Haruko was literally on the edge of her own seat, perched so precariously that she was in danger of sliding off, watching her parents with all her hopes in her eyes. Chikako had been sent to bed, amid a good deal of protest, quite some time ago. And Roarke merely sat waiting patiently.

Finally Katsumi made an odd noise; all eyes went to her, and Kazuo's head jutted forward with alarm at her pale face. "Katsumi, _koibito?"_

Looking dazed, Katsumi said something in Japanese that made Haruko groan softly. Kazuo glanced at her, faintly amused, then said to Roarke, "She tells me that she supposes she should be relieved that our daughter doesn't wish to become a kappa for a weekend."

Roarke chuckled at that, and Haruko said with a sigh, "Really, Papa-san, after everything you and Mama-san have told me about kappas, who'd want to be one of those nasty things? Besides, Akima said she'll help fight them for me…if you'll let me be a mermaid."

Kazuo shook his head sharply once, as though trying to force the concept to sink in. "You can really do that, Mr. Roarke?…make Haruko a mermaid, and then change her back again? It's actually possible?"

"Yes, it is," Roarke said serenely. "I've made the change from mermaid to human and back again; it's a simple thing to do the reverse."

"I can swim already," Haruko pleaded. "And Akima's going to be my guide. We're friends—she won't let anything happen to me."

Katsumi said hesitantly, "Roarke-san…you say we meet Akima tomorrow?" At his nod, she looked at Haruko. "And she is nice girl?"

"She's terrific, Mama-san," Haruko said earnestly. "You'll see. She can share my room, and it won't be so hard to feed her. She eats seaweed, you know. Her diet won't really be so different from ours, except maybe she won't eat rice."

"And what are you going to eat, Haruko-chan, when you're under the sea with your mermaid friend?" Kazuo inquired humorously.

Haruko turned red. "Seaweed, Papa-san, of course. And maybe some other stuff…I don't know exactly what else mermaids eat."

"I'll bet they don't eat fish," Kazuo joked.

"Is good they do not," Katsumi said, frowning at him, "for fish make you sick!"

Kazuo laughed good-naturedly and squeezed her hand. "Don't worry, _koibito,_ both Haruko and I are thoroughly aware of our fish allergy. I was just figuring that if a mermaid is half fish, eating fish might be cannibalism to them."

"Maybe we'll just eat kappas," Haruko said mischievously. Kazuo burst out laughing, and Katsumi gave her a dirty look that finally melted in a grudging smile.

Roarke, chuckling, said, "It's entirely up to the two of you, of course, but I might add that I will supervise the two girls very carefully. If necessary, I myself will transform long enough to be certain they are doing well. But Haruko seems to me to be a resourceful young lady, and quite bright at that; I'm sure she will do very well in Akima's world."

Kazuo grinned. "I'm willing enough to let her try it. Katsumi, are you? I think it would be a good experience for her. Imagine what she can learn."

"Exactly, Mama-san!" Haruko burst out, clearly seeing an opportunity to sway her mother with the prospect of acquiring more education. "I was thinking that when I get back, I could write a paper about exotic fishes for my science class."

Katsumi groaned, then looked at the ceiling and sighed. "Yes, all right, you may be mermaid for one weekend. You just remember, you not eat fish."

"I won't, Mama-san, I promise!" Haruko cried, elated. _"Domo arigato, Mama-san to Papa-san! Domo arigato!"_ She leaped from her chair and hugged both her parents.

From the stairs came a voice: "I want to be a mermaid too!" It was Chikako, who stood halfway down the stairway, staring unabashedly over the banister. Haruko rolled her eyes, while Katsumi got up to shoo Chikako back to bed. Laughing quietly, Roarke bid Kazuo and Haruko good night and departed, reflecting that both Akima and Haruko were going to find the grass far less green on each other's respective side than either believed.


	6. Chapter 6

§ § § -- March 26, 2005

§ § § -- March 26, 2005

Christian was planning to spend the weekend at his office interviewing applicants for the vacant computer-specialist position, so Leslie had brought the triplets to the main house as usual. Her current normal weekend routine was to give them their one remaining breast-feeding and then leave them with Mariki and the kitchen staff while she and Roarke greeted their incoming guests. Haruko usually appeared before the first fantasizing guest arrived at the main house for the initial appointment.

But today was a little different. Christian lingered this morning, helping with the babies' first feeding of the day, and stayed behind while Leslie and Roarke went to the plane dock; when they got back, he came down from Leslie's old room where he had been watching the triplets and setting up a large playpen for them to nap in, replacing the bassinets that they'd finally outgrown. Of the three, only Roarke wasn't surprised to see Haruko sitting nervously in one of the chairs in front of the desk, accompanied by a strange but very pretty blonde girl about the same age.

"You're here early," Christian and Leslie said in precise unison.

Haruko turned red and Roarke chuckled. "There's a good reason for that," he said. "If you two have no objection, the children will have two babysitters this weekend."

"And you need not pay me," put in the blonde girl, surprising Christian and Leslie all the more. "I have no need of money, but Haruko certainly does."

Leslie squinted at her, then slanted a glance at Roarke. "Father, is it my imagination, or does Haruko's friend look familiar for some reason?"

Roarke smiled, retreating behind his desk. "Oh no, Leslie, it's not your imagination at all. Akima, this is my daughter, Leslie, and my son-in-law, Christian, who is a prince of Lilla Jordsö—so I caution you to keep that in mind while dealing with them both. Christian and Leslie, this is Akima, daughter of Nyah."

Christian looked blank, but Leslie pulled in a breath and straightened to her full height, tossing Akima one quick, cautious glance before delicately inquiring of Roarke, "You mean…_that_ Nyah?"

"Is there another?" asked Akima with interest.

"Yes, my dear Leslie, '_that_ Nyah'," Roarke replied, amused.

"What Nyah? What or who is Nyah?" asked Christian.

Akima studied him before peering at Roarke. "Has he not heard of Nyah, once Princess and now Queen of the Seven Seas? I thought all knew of my mother."

Roarke smiled. "Christian, Nyah is a mermaid of my very long acquaintance, although I haven't seen her for quite a few years now. And to tell you the full truth, Akima, your mother has mostly preferred to keep her identity secret from mortal humans—perhaps all the better to play some of the mischievous tricks she once enjoyed indulging in. Oh, I realize your mother is a responsible and settled lady now, but there was a time when she was quite wild and carefree, and her escapades too often brought about serious consequences. There were several instances when I myself had to step in and ameliorate the problem." He regarded Akima and Haruko with a pointed expression. "I trust I need not maintain a close watch on you two during the weekend."

"I'll be there to help her, Mr. Roarke," Haruko said, "I promise."

"Surely Haruko can keep me out of all trouble," Akima said confidently.

Christian raised an eyebrow when Leslie groaned softly, "Famous last words…"

Haruko jumped to her feet. "Honest, Miss Leslie, Akima and I really are friends. You remember when I had the triplets at the beach last weekend? After that storm, I heard Akima calling for help, and I saved her from being smothered by all the seaweed the storm piled up on the beach. That's how we met, and we got to be friends. Akima really wants to learn what it's like to be a human, see. Mr. Roarke helped us out after we asked."

"There must be quite a fascinating story behind that," Christian remarked, "and I wish I could stay around to hear it directly from the horse's mouth…but I'm afraid I have to get into the office and start conducting interviews." He hesitated before leaving, though, unaware of Akima's confused expression. "Mr. Roarke, are you saying that both Haruko and Akima will be sitting with the triplets this weekend?"

"Yes, indeed," said Roarke. "Is that a problem for you?"

Christian took a breath to answer, but Akima broke in with, "What is this horse whose mouth your son-in-law, a prince of…of somewhere, wishes to hear this fascinating story from? I do not even know what a horse is. Can they speak?"

Roarke was grinning, and Leslie had a hand over her mouth; Haruko giggled, more embarrassed than amused, judging from her red face. "It's just a human expression, Akima. I can show you a real horse sometime this weekend, but they can't talk." She glanced at the still-startled prince. "I'm sorry, Mr. Enstad."

Christian's chuckle sounded slightly forced. "Well, as long as you're with the triplets, I suppose it will be all right…"

Akima drew herself up straight and announced regally, "May I inform you, prince of somewhere I can't remember now, that I am a princess myself—a princess of the Seven Seas. I have younger siblings—a great many of them. I am forced to babysit them far more often than I care to, so I have much experience in watching foolish little children."

"My children," said Christian with great dignity, "are not foolish, young lady. They're too young to be foolish." So saying, he nodded at Roarke, kissed Leslie and said, "If you'll kindly excuse me…" He didn't wait for a response but departed at some speed.

Roarke was still smiling broadly, and Leslie wondered what he thought was so funny. "Since it appears that you have Christian's somewhat quantified blessing on the babysitting endeavor," he said, "why don't we move on to other matters. Leslie, our other fantasies, as you know, are entirely routine, so perhaps you'll take a little time to help Haruko acquaint Akima with some basics."

"Starting with a course in geography, I think," Leslie said dryly, making Roarke laugh and Haruko grin sheepishly. "Okay, Father, I suppose I can handle that much. But what about that college reunion? You mentioned you wanted me to keep an eye on the preparations for their party at the old opera house."

"I think once you're satisfied that Haruko and Akima can get along without help, you might check on that. In any case, you have the easy part of this fantasy." Roarke arose and smiled at the two girls. "If you need anything, Leslie will be around to help you, and she will be in and out through the course of the day."

"The easy part?" Leslie said, staring at him.

"Next weekend I will be main supervisor for this fantasy," Roarke said and let out a small sigh. "If you'll excuse me…" He left, and Leslie frowned after him, confused.

"I think he means that next weekend I'm gonna be a mermaid, and he's going to watch us a lot more than you will," Haruko ventured.

Leslie stared at her in disbelief. "You're going to…?"

Akima nodded eagerly. "And as Haruko is my guide this weekend, so I shall be hers when she comes to explore my world. We are so excited!"

"Wow," said Leslie, blinking. "Well, maybe I shouldn't be so surprised. I was there when Father changed Duke McCall into a merman…"

"You saw Daddy's transformation?" Akima burst out, eyes wide. "Oh, will you tell me of it? I know Mama's side, but she saw it from the water. Did you know of Daddy when he was still a mortal with legs?" She looked down suddenly at her own legs, distracted. "And to speak of legs—I certainly don't know how Daddy ever got around land on these things, never mind swam in all the places he did before he became a merman."

"Oh, you get used to them," Leslie said with a grin, realizing that there were other stories she could tell this girl than just how her father had become a merman. "For right now, let's go upstairs and check on the triplets real quick, and then I'll show you a map of the country Christian was born and raised in, where he's a prince."

"Is he not also a prince here, on Fantasy Island?" Akima asked.

Haruko blurted, "That's the _other_ question I was going to ask last week at school, when you and Mr. Enstad were talking to us about royalty. Why does he go by 'Mr. Enstad' here, instead of having people say 'Your Highness' or 'Prince Christian'?"

"Yes, he's still a prince here on the island," said Leslie. "He's a prince no matter where he goes—it's a birthright, and I expect you understand that, Akima. To answer your question, Haruko, it's more a matter of personal choice for Christian. It's a long story, but he isn't always happy about being born royalty, and he prefers anonymity when he can get it. That isn't really possible in Lilla Jordsö, but here the locals know him better as just another human being. Of course, guests always seem to recognize him, but he's resigned himself to that. Is something wrong, Akima?"

At this point Leslie and Haruko were halfway up the stairs, and Akima was still at the bottom, staring at them. Now the mermaid eyed the treads and risers with a dubious look. "Is that the only way you can go to the upper part of this building?"

"In this case, yes," said Leslie, trying not to grin.

"Steps are easy, Akima," Haruko said. "Put one foot on the first one and push yourself up, and then lift up the other foot and put that on the next step, and push up again, and keep doing that till you get to the top."

"Great Neptune," said Akima, then blinked and put a hand over her mouth. "Oh, I hope Mama doesn't find out I said that. I am not to take my illustrious ancestor's name in vain. Come here, Haruko, my friend, please, and show me how to do this."

Leslie watched Haruko trot back down and demonstrate the art of ascending a flight of stairs, and reflected to herself that this could very well turn out to be one of their more unusual weekends. _Let's just hope "unusual" doesn't wind up meaning "disastrous"…_

‡ ‡ ‡

"I like your clothes, Akima," Haruko said. It was late morning and they had stayed hidden upstairs with the triplets. Leslie, after showing Akima a map of Lilla Jordsö and describing its approximate location, had told them she would let Mariki know they were up here with the babies in case they needed a break, then left to make the check she wanted to perform on the preparations at the opera house. "Where'd you get them?"

Akima looked down at her outfit; she was clad in a sleeveless shell with a scoop neck, patterned in vertical maroon-and-white stripes, and wore matching shorts and a pair of plain white sandals. "Mr. Roarke found them for me. They feel very strange." She looked back up at Haruko, taking in her light-aqua short-sleeved top and navy-blue shorts. "Now that I think about it, I realize that every time I have seen you, you were wearing such things. Is there nowhere on land that one can run free, without such encumbering garments?"

Haruko shook her head. "It's actually illegal to go out in public without clothes on," she said, then considered it a moment. "Though I've heard some places have nude beaches. But I don't think I'd ever have the guts to walk around naked in front of a whole beach full of total strangers." She regarded Akima with perplexity. "What do you do when you're swimming in really cold water? Don't you put on something then, or maybe at least wrap yourself in seaweed or something?"

"Cold water is as nothing to us," said Akima. "It is quite refreshing, actually, when we get sick of warmth all the time, or it is high summer. You'll see, next weekend when I take you under the ocean. Mr. Roarke will make you into a true mermaid and you will never notice cold water." She stuck a hand under her top and scratched her belly. "But these feel quite peculiar. They itch, too!"

"Probably because you're not used to them," said Haruko. "But trust me, when we go someplace, you'll be glad you have them, or you'll end up spending the whole weekend in jail or something. What's the matter, Susanna?" The oldest triplet was standing at the edge of the playpen, small hands wrapped around the vinyl-covered top rail, complaining.

"Perhaps she does not like wearing clothes, either," Akima said, watching Haruko lift Susanna out of the playpen and lightly tickle the sole of the little girl's foot.

"I think it's because she was tired of standing," Haruko said. "She hasn't figured out how to sit down yet. Miss Leslie said she thinks pretty soon Susanna's gonna start walking. Boy, when that happens, look out world."

"For someone with legs, she's quite sweet." Akima came over to examine the wide-eyed baby, tracing an inquisitive finger along Susanna's leg from foot to thigh. Susanna watched Akima's finger moving along, then reached out to grab the mermaid's arm, startling Akima so that she jerked her hand back. Susanna blinked in surprise and Haruko giggled; Akima smiled and noted, "Her skin is so soft! Is this true of all human babies?"

"Yup, far as I know." Haruko tickled Susanna's foot again and the baby squealed in delight. "These guys are little angels. I'm sure if we take them with us, Miss Leslie won't mind too much. She says they should get just a little bit of sun every day—Vitamin D, you know. But not too much." She focused on Akima. "Want to help me take them for a walk? We'll put some sunscreen on them and then take them out in their stroller."

Akima considered it for a few minutes while Haruko sat Susanna on the floor and leaned into the playpen, sniffing. "Hmm," the mermaid said thoughtfully, "that might be good. I suppose I should practice using these clumsy new legs of mine anyway."

"That's a good idea," offered Haruko and lifted Karina out of the playpen. "Oh boy, do you ever need a diaper change!" Karina giggled at that, and Haruko laughed.

About ten minutes later, with Karina's diaper changed and all three triplets well greased in sunscreen and wearing their white sun hats, Haruko and Akima strolled along the Main House Lane, each with a hand on a stroller handle. "Where should we go?" Akima asked. "Perhaps we should have a long walk so I can get used to these legs."

"Hmm, maybe we could go to the teahouse where my mother works," Haruko mused. "That's not too far, but it's a nice walk, and the triplets'll have a good outing."

Akima agreed to that, and they wheeled the triplets along a well-used jungle path and through the town square, then along the side of the Ring Road till they reached the teahouse beside the serene little pond. By then Akima looked tortured. "How," she gasped, leaning heavily on the stroller, "can you go so far, moving on these…these _stilts?"_

"We're used to these 'stilts'," Haruko said, staring at Akima and wondering for the first time whether she was meant to take this as a joke or a genuine insult. "I mean, it's not like we've got a choice, you know. Next weekend I'll probably wonder how the heck you can possibly move anywhere when all you have is a big flat tail."

Akima stared back at her, blinking and panting; her face seemed startled. After a few minutes she said slowly, "Well, this is true. Some of my idiotic mersiblings had terrible trouble learning to swim properly. Not that I did, but…" She paused, then looked away. "I suppose it isn't easy for a human to dart through the water as we do. But you will find it easier with a tail."

"Well, a tail wouldn't come in too handy on land," Haruko said, still feeling put out. "Which is why you're better off with our, uh, _stilts."_

For the first time since Haruko had met her, Akima blushed. "I am sorry, Haruko," she said softly. "I don't want you to be angry with me. I…need your help to navigate on land. I will admit that I know so little about humans and their world, but I truly wish to learn."

Her earnest entreaty thawed Haruko out, and she smiled back, feeling relieved. "It'll get easier," she said. "At least, I hope it will. For all I know, when us humans are just learning to walk, it hurts us too. Maybe the triplets'll get frustrated when they spend too much time trying to walk because their legs hurt so much."

"Oh, I hope that does not happen to them," Akima exclaimed, gazing down at the babies, who all three were peering wide-eyed up at her. "They are adorable, and you're right, they are little angelfish!" Haruko just grinned, deciding not to correct her. Instead they brought the triplets into the teahouse to meet Katsumi, who looked quite surprised to see them there.

"Leslie knows you are here?" she asked her daughter warily.

"Miss Leslie trusts me with the triplets, Mama-san, honest," Haruko assured her. "By the way, this is my friend Akima…you know, the mermaid."

Akima and Katsumi assessed each other while Haruko looked on and the triplets, beginning to get restless, strained to escape from the confines of their stroller so they could get at the beautiful porcelain tea service on the low table. Finally Katsumi offered a nod of the head to the mermaid, who smiled hopefully and at last asked, "May I call you Mrs. Miyamoto, as Haruko suggested to me?" Haruko had given her some pointers on various forms of address while they were sitting with the triplets back at the main house.

Katsumi blinked in surprise, then smiled for the first time. "Yes, you call me that. So Haruko say you are her friend."

"Oh yes, Haruko saved my life," Akima assured her solemnly.

This, of course, had come out when Haruko, with Roarke in tow, had initially asked her parents for permission to have her fantasy granted, but Katsumi seemed surprised to have it confirmed. "Ah, so it is true, then." She paused a moment, as if wondering what else to say; then the triplets' struggling caught her attention and she shook her head, an indulgent look on her face. "Haruko, babies wish to go out. You help me put away tea service, and then they come out and…move little."

"They're crawling, Mama-san," Haruko told her, carefully lifting a teacup in each hand. "Miss Leslie said Prince Christian thinks Susanna might start walking soon!"

"They grow up fast," Katsumi remarked, regarding the triplets with an oddly wistful smile that Haruko didn't understand. After a moment Katsumi pulled herself back to the moment and gathered up the pot, which still held some tea, judging from the sloshing the girls heard within it. To Akima she said, "You help, yes?"

"It's really fragile," said Haruko, "that's why I'm carrying only two at a time."

"Ah, yes, of course," said Akima, brightening. "I will think of these as fragile coral reefs." She lifted two cups, and in a few minutes the table had been cleared and Haruko was releasing the restraints on each triplet, putting them on the floor so they could crawl across the tatami mats and explore the room. Akima, though, apparently had something else on her mind, and looked curiously at Katsumi. "Mrs. Miyamoto, what do you do here?"

"I give tea ceremony," Katsumi replied. "Do this for guests of Mr. Roarke. Is exactly as I once did it in Japan, when my Haruko was very little girl. She remember ceremony, and I teach her little sister also, so they help me sometimes."

Akima tilted her head aslant and asked, "What is tea?"

"Is hot drink," said Katsumi. "You like a taste?"

Akima thought it over, then nodded. "Yes, I think I should like a small bit." She cast Katsumi a reminiscent little smile. "Daddy talks a great deal about something called coffee, but to me it sounds simply vile. Tea is not like coffee, is it?"

"No, it's a lot weaker," said Haruko. "I guess tea is more like flavored water, but coffee can be really strong. Papa-san likes strong coffee sometimes, when he has to work second shift one day and then first shift the next day."

Akima peered blankly at her. "Why?"

"Oh…coffee and tea both have caffeine in them, but coffee has a lot more," Haruko explained. "Caffeine keeps you awake, see. A lot of people drink it in the morning to wake them up and get them going."

"Oh," said Akima, frowning, then shaking her head. "You humans truly do have some strange and mysterious habits." Katsumi and Haruko both laughed, and Katsumi retreated into the teahouse's little kitchen to pour a little of the leftover tea for Akima to try. The girls remained in the main room with the triplets, who were busily crawling around the floor, pulling themselves to their feet, pounding small fists on the mats, and making a good bit of cheerful noise. Karina had claimed one of the cushions scattered around the table and was sitting on a second one, pushing the first around the table in front of her, while her brother and sister made slow orbits of the room.

The girls were giggling at the triplets' antics when Katsumi returned with a cup that she handed to Akima. "Is hot, so drink slowly," she said before turning to Susanna, who was about to begin crawling across the tabletop, and deftly plucking her up. "Table is no place for little girl! What if your mama-san and papa-san know?" Susanna giggled in Katsumi's arms, while Akima cautiously lifted the cup to her lips and took a very careful sip.

Haruko watched closely. "What do you think?" she asked when Akima sat for a moment staring into space.

Akima broke into an enormous smile. "I think it's lovely!" she said happily. "I have drunk seawater for so much of my life, it is so much nicer when I can taste something else. But I have never tasted anything as sweet and delicate as this lovely tea. I thank you, Mrs. Miyamoto, and I would love more."

Katsumi beamed while Haruko gaped in amazement. "Yes, I bring you more, all you like!" she promised, delighted. With Susanna riding her arm, she retreated to the kitchen; Haruko stared after her while Tobias grabbed hold of her shirt and began to laboriously climb to his feet.

"You really like that stuff?" she asked at last, thoroughly astonished.

"It's wonderful!" Akima insisted with a vigorous nod, sipping eagerly at the rest of her tea. "Why, do you not like it?"

Haruko grinned sheepishly. "I've helped Mama-san with a lot of tea ceremonies, but I never did learn to like it. I'm actually more like Papa-san…I'd rather have coffee."

"I must try this coffee," Akima decided. "If you like it, perhaps it tastes nice as well." She drank some more tea and closed her eyes, looking blissful. "So far, I cannot see a reason that you so dislike being human, Haruko, my friend. I think it is simply fabulous."

Haruko smiled crookedly. "Well, I for one can't wait till next weekend. Give it a little while and you'll find out exactly how boring being human can be."


	7. Chapter 7

§ § § -- March 26, 2005

Christian checked his watch, wondering if lunchtime had rolled around yet. Disappointed to find it hadn't, he took a deep, fortifying breath and closed his eyes a moment, taking advantage of a moment or two between interviews. He'd been conducting something of a marathon all morning and was a little surprised, now that he'd come up for air, to find himself wearing down. He had already interviewed seventeen applicants.

Emerging from the back room where he'd been holding the interviews, he assessed the work projects waiting their turn, decided his staff could handle them, and paused beside Anton's desk. "Any calls I should know about?"

Anton glanced up and smiled a bit in surprise. "No, nothing urgent."

Christian nodded. "Good. Well, let me see what else is going on here." He spent a couple of minutes rounding the room and getting updates on the workload and other situations from Beth, Jonathan and Julianne.

When he got to Julianne, she told him, "Your eleven-o'clock appointment didn't show up, and it's making some of the others kind of mad, because there's been a guy in here begging to be interviewed today if at all possible."

"Oh?" said Christian, surprised. "Did he leave a résumé and fill out an application?"

"Sure did," said Julianne and handed him the pages in question. "You've really got a reputation, and between working for you and doing it on Fantasy Island…well, I guess it's the ultimate dream job for any computer nut."

"They'd just better be good, that's all," Christian said, casting another glance at the table with its waiting projects. "Beth tells me we're not backed up very far, but she thinks we can use a receptionist to log all the projects that come in, so I'm considering interviewing for that as well."

"That could be useful," Julianne agreed. "They could help with repairs too, if we got way behind and needed another pair of hands."

"Mm-hmm." Christian was already looking over the application and résumé in his hands. "Well, I'm out here, I may as well squeeze this one in." He looked up, scanned the row of hopefuls seated on benches outside the shop's windows, and shook his head to himself before going to the door and sticking his head out. "Taro Sensei?"

An Asian man said something to the boy and girl seated near him and stood hurriedly. "Yes!" he said, striding across the wooden sidewalk to Christian and shaking hands. "I'm Taro Sensei, nice to meet you, Your Highness."

They'd been addressing him as such all morning, and Christian had given up after the first two applicants and let it pass. "Nice to meet you as well. Come back here and we'll talk a bit." He led Taro Sensei in, a couple of questions already occurring to him, and started for the back room once more.

Halfway there Beth put her phone on hold and stopped him with a worried look. "Just got a call from a vacationer from San Francisco, Mr. Enstad. He says his laptop just died from a Trojan horse, and he desperately needs to bring it in and have it fixed."

"Ach," Christian groaned, "not some damned virus! I hadn't planned to do any actual work today, just interviews. Is it a true emergency?"

"He makes out like it is," Beth said.

Christian sighed heavily, considered the situation and then tossed Taro Sensei an apologetic smile. "Forgive me, I think I'd better handle this myself. We don't get many true Trojan-horse problems, and I'm the only one who can fix them." He took Beth's phone receiver and spoke with the customer on the other end, got the man to agree to let him have the machine overnight and hung up; then he gestured at his latest candidate and continued on to the back room. There both men seated themselves and Christian glanced over the application and résumé once more. "Taro Sensei? Tell me, you wouldn't be Myeko Okada's brother, would you?"

"I would," Taro Sensei said with a grin that swiftly faded. "She doesn't know I'm back on the island. I've been living in Samoa the last fifteen years or so, just got in today."

"And this says you've had an electronics-repair business there for a little more than ten years," Christian mused, studying the résumé. "Not specifically computers?"

"I did fix computers, yes, though not exclusively. I guess you could say I'm something of a jack-of-all-trades. I repair air-conditioners, appliances, TVs, stereo systems, VCRs and DVD players. If it's got mechanical guts, I can fix it."

Christian nodded. "It seems you must have had some success at it."

"I did…" Taro paused, frowned slightly and cleared his throat. "But I had to close the business last month. There were…mitigating circumstances."

"Mm-hmm. Well, let's focus on the computer part of the business. What's the most difficult problem you've successfully repaired?"

"I've replaced just about every imaginable part in a computer, and I can install new hardware as well. Worst job I ever had was one where I had to fix a computer that'd been aboard a boat in a storm. It didn't get wet, but it'd been jostled around a lot, and it was crammed with all kinds of specialized hardware. It took me three days, but I got it going. The guy who owned it was responsible for a big uptick in my business, because he was so thrilled that I got it working again."

Impressed, Christian stared at him. "That's not something everyone can do, I'll readily say that!" He shifted in his seat, looked over a few more entries, asked several more questions and thanked Taro for his time. When he was gone, Christian swiftly summarized his story about the computer aboard the boat, using shorthand _jordiska_ on the back of Taro's résumé for his own reference, and added the word "finalist" below it in the same language before folding the pages once and anchoring them under a paperweight. He tried to refrain from checking his watch yet again, but it was a losing battle. It had been a long, tiring morning, and he was hungry. He took the chance to stretch every muscle he could without rising from the chair, wondering what would cause an apparently successful business like Taro Sensei's to be shut down, and then had to set the whole thing aside when his next candidate let himself into the room. _Eight more to go,_ he thought and got down to the business at hand, forcing himself to concentrate.

‡ ‡ ‡

"So what will you eat for this meal?" asked Akima eagerly, trailing Haruko across the veranda with the stroller. "I am truly looking forward to tasting human food. Daddy talks all the time about things called 'backyard barbecues' and 'juicy T-bone steaks'…but we made him give up a thing he called sushi. Eating fish…how simply barbaric!"

Haruko giggled. "Papa-san thought you might feel that way, and Mama-san made sure to lay in a supply of good seaweed, so you can try it the way we Japanese eat it. But I wasn't sure what else you might like. I didn't think you'd eat rice."

"What is rice?" Akima wanted to know. "Oh, hello, Leslie."

"Hi, Miss Leslie," Haruko added, returning Leslie's smile. "The triplets got an outing and we went over to see Mama-san at the teahouse. I think they're hungry, though."

"I don't doubt it," Leslie agreed, kneeling to get on her children's eye level. They were squalling happily at sight of their mother, all three stretching out their arms to be held at the same time. "Hi, you guys, I bet you're starving, huh? We've got some nice bananas and mango and mushed-up veggies for you, okay? All you can eat."

"Maaa-maaaa," yelled Tobias enthusiastically, and that made Leslie and the two girls burst into laughter. With Haruko's help, she put triplets into high chairs; Akima watched intently, as if trying to learn how to do it herself.

"Are they vegetarians?" the mermaid asked suddenly.

Leslie blinked at her in surprise for a moment before realizing that probably her formerly-human father had taught her and her many siblings at least a few things about humans. "No, but we usually let them have stuff like strained chicken and other meat at the evening meal. Depends on what Mariki's got prepared, too."

"They don't eat fish, do they?" Akima asked darkly.

Leslie regarded her a little sternly. "Akima, I realize this sounds thoroughly repugnant to you, but yes, humans do eat fish, and we like it very much. You can't tell me your father hasn't talked about eating his share of fish before he became a merman. And yes, the triplets do eat some, but not too often because so much of it is unsafe for them just yet." She secured Tobias in his high chair and met the mermaid's stunned expression. "Yes, that's one part of being human. I understand you've been very enthusiastic about the experience so far. Did you really think everything about it was going to be picture-perfect?"

Akima's face pinkened and she hunched her shoulders a little, just like Haruko, at which Leslie had to stifle a smile. "But it seems so barbaric."

"In that case, let me warn you now," Leslie said, "don't act offended when something merpeople do rubs Haruko the wrong way." Leaving that for Akima to chew on, she began to position high chairs around the table—one between Christian's and Roarke's chairs, one between her own and Christian's, and the last on the other side of her chair.

Haruko leaned over and whispered in Leslie's ear, "Thanks, Miss Leslie, that was kinda bugging me." Leslie grinned at her and she grinned back, and they sat down to wait for Roarke and Christian.

Christian appeared first, making a definite beeline for the table. "Hello, my Rose," he said, pausing barely long enough to kiss Leslie before taking his chair. "I'm simply starving. Has Mariki come out yet to let us know what's on the menu?"

"Not so far, my love," she said, watching him settle into his chair and blow out a long breath. "Long morning?"

"Very," he said with a tired nod. "I interviewed nearly two dozen applicants, and along the way someone called with a major problem that only I have the capability to repair. I've got interviews scheduled for the entire afternoon, so I'll have to bring that repair project home in order to get it done."

"Don't tell me…they presented it as a dire emergency," Leslie said ironically.

"Exactly so. Undoubtedly it's a sign of another so-called 'working vacation'," said Christian, rolling his eyes. "In any case, I began to wear out more than an hour before lunchtime, and I got hungry early on too."

Leslie grinned and squeezed his hand as Roarke approached the table from the other end of the porch. "Well, you came to the right place—you know how Mariki always makes more than enough food. Hi, Father."

"Hello, everyone," Roarke said, taking his chair and focusing on Haruko and Akima, who were sitting side by side at Leslie's right. "How are you two doing?"

"So far so good, mostly," said Haruko.

"I didn't know legs hurt so much, Mr. Roarke," Akima chimed in. "It was a terrible chore to walk to the teahouse where Mrs. Miyamoto works. And now I am wondering if the food you have at this meal will be good or terrible. After all, humans eat fish!"

Roarke smiled. "I realize you find that disconcerting, but it's only one of a great many differences between humans and merpeople. The key is in how you see those differences. If you can accept them as unavoidable—if not interesting—you will manage much better."

Akima considered that for a few seconds while Mariki emerged from the kitchen with a laden cart, and finally shrugged. "I suppose that is true, Mr. Roarke, but I am staying with Haruko's family…and if I see them eating fish, I may become quite ill."

"Well, don't worry about that," said Haruko, sounding exasperated. "Just so you know, both Papa-san and I are allergic to fish and can't eat it anyway. Are you satisfied now? I mean, geez…and after Mama-san went to the trouble of getting really good seaweed just for you!" She looked so put out that Roarke and Leslie exchanged a glance, and Leslie had the feeling he was thinking what she was—that this friendship, still so new, was undergoing testing that it might not survive.

Akima eyed Haruko for a moment, then said flatly, "If you do not wish to be a mermaid next week after all, then you should say so, and I will ask Mr. Roarke to return me to the sea here and now. And then you will not need to listen to me."

Haruko went still and frowned, then sighed and seemed to deflate in her chair. "I'm sorry," she mumbled, chewing on her lower lip.

"Trouble in paradise, hm?" Christian remarked with a faint smile. "Perhaps, Akima, you could do as my mother did with me, when I was growing up. Try some of our foods, just a quick taste. If you don't care for it, you need not bother with it. This is what Leslie and I have been doing with the triplets, and so far it seems to work fine; there isn't much they don't like." He grinned at Leslie. "Although, of course, I have a feeling the triplets are far more tractable than someone with established preferences."

"Very likely," Leslie agreed, grinning back. "But it can't hurt to try it. Mariki, why don't you put a little of everything on Akima's plate—maybe a spoonful of each—and give her a chance to try it all."

Mariki, setting bowls on the table, paused and peered at Akima. "Oh?"

"She comes from an area with unusual gustatory habits," Roarke put in with a smile, sounding perfectly composed. "She's here on a visit, and has expressed interest in learning about our customs, foods and other aspects of life."

"Ah, I see," said Mariki, her face clearing. "Welcome, young lady, and I hope you find something you like. And Miss Leslie, I've mashed up five different kinds of vegetables for the babies, so they should get plenty of whatever they want."

"A good thing," remarked Christian. "The girls have decided this week that they like nothing but orange food, but Tobias is just as much of a gourmand as ever."

Lunch was interesting, to say the least. Christian and Tobias, both obviously very hungry, cleared their respective plates easily, and when Tobias reached toward his father's plate while Christian was refilling it, that was the cue for Christian to serve his son a second helping of mashed potatoes. Susanna and Karina were still in the rut Christian had mentioned, so Leslie obliged them with mashed carrots and mango. Haruko ate slowly, looking as if she wanted to get away as soon as possible. Roarke, due for some rounds, ate a little faster than usual; Leslie had to eat in between feeding her daughters. And Akima tried everything on the plate in slow, methodical order, scooping up a little with a spoon, sliding it into her mouth and then sitting for a good minute or two, as if microanalyzing the taste. They all noticed she didn't eat more than one bite of anything till she had tried all the items on the plate, and then she sat back and squinted at the remains, looking uncertain.

Roarke paused to watch her, but when she just sat, he inquired, "Is there a problem?"

"I don't know about human food," Akima said, looking back at him with a doubtful expression. "It all seems so confusing. So many colors and tastes and textures."

"That's part of the fun of eating human food," Leslie said, glancing at each baby in turn and chuckling a touch ruefully. "Human babies are faced with these discoveries all the time, and there's plenty more in the triplets' future that they haven't even seen yet."

Akima surveyed the triplets, all of whose faces were liberally smeared with mashed fruit or vegetables, and then seemed to brighten. "Perhaps if my food could be made into mush, as the babies eat it…"

Everyone stopped and stared at her. "Do you have bad teeth?" Haruko asked.

"Seaweed is fairly tough," Christian remarked. "You have to chew that, don't you?"

"Well, yes," Akima admitted, making a face and going red again. "But the babies seem to be having such fun eating their food. I thought it would help if mine were like that."

Leslie giggled first, and then everyone was laughing. "Oh, what'll it hurt?" she said, half rising and setting a bowl near Akima's plate. "Here, try the mashed potatoes—Tobias just plain loves them, and you might enjoy them too. That's one of the very few mashed foods that adults eat as well as babies."

After lunch, which was more of a success for Akima once her food had been reduced to puree, Leslie told the girls they could have a couple of hours or so to themselves, since she was sticking around the house for a while and could watch the triplets while she handled paperwork. Haruko and Akima, apparently back on good terms once more, thanked her and departed, and Roarke helped bring the babies inside before leaving on his own rounds. The triplets were ready for a nap, so Christian and Leslie put them down and then returned to the study, where he lingered while she settled behind the desk.

"You're loitering, my love," she said with a smile. "What's up?"

As if issued an invitation, Christian promptly took one of the leather chairs. "I didn't mention it at lunch mostly because I forgot, thanks to your mermaid client…but I thought it would interest you to know that one of my applicants this morning was a certain Taro Sensei." He watched Leslie go still and gape at him, and nodded. "I thought you'd recognize the name. Do you know him well?"

"Not really," she said. "Taro and his twin brother Tomi were born when Myeko was four, and they both moved off-island several months before I came home after Teppo died. I haven't seen either of them since 1985, and I know they were both living in Samoa, but that's about it. So Taro's back?"

"Seems so," Christian said, settling himself in the chair and checking the grandfather clock that stood nearby. "Moreover, apparently he just returned today—that's what he told me, at least. I came out for a break late this morning, and Julianne handed me his résumé and application, telling me he seemed desperate to be interviewed today. Someone hadn't bothered to show up, so I fitted him in."

"That's interesting," said Leslie, full attention on him. "Did he seem competent?"

"Quite," he replied and told her about his interview with Taro. "I've set him aside as one of the finalists for the open position, although I admit to having more questions—personal ones, I'm afraid. Perhaps I wouldn't hear alarm bells if it weren't for the fact that he told me, during the interview, that Myeko didn't know yet that he was back. From that I infer that his parents didn't know either."

"And his business went belly-up, you said," Leslie mused. "I guess _nobody_ knew he was back, at least when you saw him, but I bet Myeko's parents'll be glad to have one more of their offspring back on the island." She thought a moment, then looked curiously at Christian. "Do you think you'll hire him, my love?"

"Well, he's one of the finalists, as I said. I might have to if I don't want him going into competition with me," Christian said humorously.

Leslie laughed and pointed out, "I don't think it'd be serious competition—after all, his business consisted of repairing more than computers. On the other hand, if you do hire him, you'll never have to worry about getting somebody to fix the AC system when it goes down." They both laughed, and Christian shot another glance at the clock before sighing and getting to his feet with clear reluctance.

"It's something to think about," he agreed, "but if I don't hire him, I expect he'll do well for himself anyway. I'm afraid I'd better get back to the office—I gave myself two hours off so I could catch my breath for the next wave, and that time's nearly up. You might call Myeko and let her know her brother's come home." He came around the desk and drew his wife to her feet, gathering her into his embrace. "I have a few interviews for tomorrow as well, but today's the busy one. Julianne suggested I take on a secretary, as I have in my other branches, but I don't feel like dealing with that just this moment. In any case, I think there are only ten more people to see, so I'll come back here about four o'clock. I can stay with the triplets and work on that Trojan-horse project so you can keep an eye on Haruko and her young friend."

"Trojan horse?" Leslie echoed.

Christian grinned and said, "A destructive agent that sneaks into a computer and wreaks sheer havoc on the programming. I don't know of any major viruses out there at the moment, but you never know what's being circulated through spam, and I have a distinct feeling that's what happened to this person's laptop. Anyway, I'll see you at about four."

"Sounds good," she said. "Try not to wear yourself out like you did this morning."

"It should be easier. I've got the majority out of the way. I love you, my Leslie Rose." Christian kissed her, and they hugged each other before he left. Leslie resumed her seat and pulled one of three stacks of envelopes toward her, deciding on the spur of the moment to put off calling Myeko. It was just possible that Taro had his reasons for not immediately notifying his family that he'd come back to Fantasy Island, and in any case, she thought it would be much nicer if Myeko heard about it from Taro himself.

§ § § -- March 27, 2005

Haruko woke with a sense of something out of place, and rolled over in bed to find that Akima was not on the air mattress on the floor where she'd bedded down the previous night. She scowled, shook her head and wondered what could have happened now. Akima had created a problem at supper when she pleaded for mashed potatoes and strained papaya to go with the seaweed that Katsumi had prepared especially for her in the Japanese way; and while Haruko had explained what the story behind that was, Kazuo had whipped up the potatoes and papaya for her, evidently feeling indulgent. Akima had happily thanked him, cleaned her plate, and then offered to help Chikako clear the table. Between the two of them they had managed to break three dishes, and Haruko had been dispatched to clean up the mess while Chikako and Akima got off scot-free. _Oh sure,_ she thought, _Papa-san_ said _it was because he trusted me to be careful with Obachan's dishes that she gave him when he got his job here, but I just think it was to get Chikako off their hands._ Her sister had taken a great liking to Akima, and since the feeling was mutual, Akima had volunteered to play with the little girl while Kazuo and Katsumi had a restful evening. _And while I ended up washing all the dishes and putting them away,_ Haruko added mentally.

She'd bet everything she made next month babysitting for the Enstad triplets that Akima had defected to Chikako's room and was sleeping in there. Disgruntled and wishing she could just become a mermaid without Akima's help, she got out of bed and dressed, then went straight to Chikako's room to roust the mermaid out.

But Chikako was alone, surprising Haruko. _Well, that's really weird,_ she thought. _I was sure she'd be in here, the way they hit it off._ Akima thought Chikako's baby dolls were hilarious, but had gladly agreed to play with her when she asked. Shrugging to herself, Haruko retreated toward her own room, deeply puzzled.

Then she thought she heard water rippling and stopped short. _Oh no,_ she thought and poked her head cautiously into the bathroom. Sure enough, the tub was about three-quarters full of water, and Akima lay therein, sound asleep. As Haruko stared, Akima's body slipped a little, bringing her closer to the surface of the water; her chin was already under and her lower lip was about to follow. Haruko flipped on the light switch and lunged for the tub. "Akima, wake up, you're gonna drown!" she blurted.

Akima came awake with a start and sat up, then rolled her eyes. "I am a mermaid," she said. "I can't drown!"

"Yes you can," Haruko retorted. "Right now you're not a mermaid, remember? You're a human, and humans can definitely drown."

"Oh, of course." Akima let out a sigh. "But it was worth the risk. I simply could not sleep on that slab of air in your room. Well, if you will help me with my clothing…" She stood up, and for the first time Haruko realized the mermaid was completely nude. Deeply embarrassed, she dashed to the linen closet, snagged a towel and all but threw it at Akima.

"Here, wrap that around yourself and dry off," she said. "You can't just walk around naked in here. My parents would flip."

"They are acrobats?" Akima asked.

Groaning, Haruko muttered, "Never mind. Just dry off and then come into my room." She made a hasty exit and busied herself tidying her room, wondering what was going to happen tomorrow at school. Akima still wanted to go, but the longer she was human, the more Haruko wished she would change her mind.

The day continued as it had begun: Akima found she didn't like any of the items that were offered for breakfast, and when she tried coffee she gagged so hard that she was sick all over the kitchen floor. Some landed on Haruko, who had to go upstairs and change her clothes. Akima ultimately went without eating, though she recovered nicely by lunchtime. At that point the two girls were at the main house, on the porch watching the triplets and taking care of Chikako at the same time. Akima insisted on more mashed fruit and vegetables for lunch, and Mariki cast Leslie and Roarke speaking looks before going off to brew the tea the mermaid wanted. Haruko ventured to ask, "Mr. Roarke, would it be all right if I come and talk to you and Miss Leslie later on? I, uh…I've got problems…well, you know."

"You may if you wish, of course, though I don't believe your trials are anything out of the ordinary," Roarke said with a smile that was meant to reassure.

Haruko's look was filled with doubt, but she didn't say any more, conscious of Akima sitting right beside her. Somehow, she thought, watching Christian shovel another spoonful of strained roast beef into Tobias' mouth and then quickly refill his plate, she was going to have to sneak a little time alone so she could air her true feelings to Roarke and Leslie. If she didn't, she was going to take it out on something…or maybe someone.


	8. Chapter 8

§ § § -- March 27, 2005

§ § § -- March 27, 2005

The opportunity didn't come till mid-afternoon when Akima decided to take some time at the swimming pool. Satisfied that the mermaid would be fine in a milieu she was familiar with, Haruko made an excuse and then ran all the way to the main house. She was relieved to find both Roarke and Leslie there; they looked at her in surprise. Christian was at the tea table surrounded by a gutted laptop and a sea of components; he was so engrossed he didn't seem to register her arrival.

"Where's Akima?" Leslie asked.

"I left her at the pool," said Haruko. "I figure she oughta be perfectly safe there. I really had to come and talk to you without her around."

"It's as bad as that?" Leslie queried humorously.

"Awful," Haruko muttered, settling into one of the chairs in front of the desk. "I don't mind having her around, but sometimes she really acts like a spoiled brat, and I've been wishing she'd change her mind about coming to school with me tomorrow."

Leslie grinned. "I'd have thought you'd want her around to help you fend off David Omamara. And considering your attitude, I'm surprised you still want to be a mermaid next weekend."

"Well, I don't plan to be half as much trouble as Akima's been," announced Haruko with her nose in the air, "and if I am, it'll be accidental."

Roarke and Leslie both laughed, bringing Christian out of his electronic otherworld. "You may have purely noble intentions," Roarke said, "but even the best-intentioned people find themselves falling into the very traps they are determined to avoid. Have your parents expressed dissatisfaction with Akima's behavior? If so, I may be able to suggest to her that she revert to her normal mermaid status for a night and then accompany you to school in the morning as a human."

"What else has she done, anyway?" Leslie asked curiously, spotting her husband looking on with interest. "Must be quite a litany you have, if it was enough to distract Christian from computer work."

"Ach, you little tease," Christian shot back, and they laughed again. "In fact, I can use a break. The Trojan horse this client described to me did a very thorough job on this thing, enough that I'm finding the majority of the parts were fried by the program. I've never seen anything like this, and I can hardly wait to find out some clues as to its origin. But for now, if you will, indulge me."

Haruko made a face. "I guess you'll think it's funny, but I'm not so sure." She went on to describe what had happened throughout the rest of the previous afternoon and that morning, feeling more and more betrayed when she saw amusement creep into the adults' expressions. When she finished, she grunted, "I _knew_ you'd think it was funny."

Leslie tried to sound sympathetic. "I know it seems like a collective catastrophe, but it could happen to anyone. Seriously, Haruko. You or Chikako could have dropped those dishes, you know. And a lot of humans are afraid of horses, so it shouldn't have been such a surprise when you went to the stables and Akima was terrified of them."

Christian chuckled softly and offered, "Royals tend to be known as equestrians, but that isn't always the case. It certainly isn't true of us. My two brothers could ride, but none of the rest of our family does. My grandmother died in a fall from a horse a few months before I was born, and the story goes that my sister was to begin riding that year; but after Grandmother's accident, my grandfather banned everything equine from then on. And my parents perpetuated it, for they too were grieving deeply. Later, every one of my nieces was frightened of horses, and they even made my nephews nervous."

"Wow," said Haruko, amazed. "Have you _ever_ ridden a horse, Mr. Enstad?"

Christian grinned. "Not once in all my life. So perhaps it shouldn't be so shocking that Akima was so frightened of them."

"Well, maybe not." Haruko sighed loudly. "But sometimes she's just a pain. I mean, I thought she'd love the seaweed Mama-san got. She did, but she begged for mashed potatoes and smushed-up papaya too, and Papa-san had to fix that for her. And of course, she hogged the teapot all through supper. She finished off the whole thing and then wanted more."

"At least your parents had papaya in the house," Leslie said gently.

Haruko stared at her. "Miss Leslie!" she wailed, and again the adults laughed.

"I think you're making far too much of this, Haruko," Roarke said kindly. "Try to put yourself in Akima's shoes—which, in fact, is just where you will be next weekend. She is in an entirely different world from the one to which she is accustomed, and just as with humans who travel between widely disparate societies, she is suffering from culture shock. Tell me, what do you remember of your arrival here from Japan, when you were six?"

Haruko thought back. She didn't really have a lot of clear memories of those days, and even fewer of her earliest years in Japan. She understood now, as she hadn't at the time, that her mother had once been a celebrated geisha, and that she had scraped up the courage to leave her home country just to keep Haruko from being forced to follow in her one-time footsteps. Haruko had flashes of memory about tea ceremonies, strange men sometimes parading through the house where they'd lived, young women with calculating faces and exaggerated deference to her mother; but little more than that. She remembered her arrival on Fantasy Island a little better, although it always seemed strange to her to realize that she had known only Japanese then and that the speech of everyone around her had sounded like so much baby talk. Her first four or five months of school had been an ordeal, for though she had been tutored in English at home, she'd found herself ostracized by the other girls in her first-grade class and endlessly picked on by David Omamara and his friends. The summer she'd turned seven, she had been determined not to let them get to her anymore, and had studied English so hard that she'd impressed her tutor and surprised her teachers and classmates when she started second grade that fall. And just a week into the school year, she had a few friends, and had shut David Omamara up very nicely by catching a soccer ball he had kicked at her—one clearly meant to bean her in the head—and hurling it back at him with so much force that when it hit him in the gut, he'd thrown up. It had been several years before he'd bothered her again.

"Well, okay," Haruko finally conceded grudgingly, focusing on Roarke again. "I did have kind of a hard time all through first grade, but I lived through it."

"I think you'll live through this too," Leslie said and smiled. "Akima's trying really hard to cope with things, and you can bet your life you'll be in the exact same situation next weekend. So try to be patient with her."

"But what'll I do when she messes up at school tomorrow?" Haruko protested. "What am I gonna say to my friends when she does something so weird that it's impossible to explain to anybody?"

Leslie said, "Just tell them she's visiting from another country and she's a guest here for just a day."

"But they'll ask which country," Haruko said.

Leslie groaned softly and Christian chuckled; Roarke leaned over the desk. "Just let Akima tell them," he said. "She is well aware of her mother's policy in regard to revealing the existence of mermaids to humans. Let her answer whatever questions your friends may have, and don't fret so much. Think of it as a learning experience for both of you."

"Well…okay," Haruko finally said reluctantly. "But I sure will be glad when tomorrow ends and Akima goes back to the ocean. Next weekend won't be half as bad for her as it's been for me. I'm going to be the least possible amount of trouble. And if I see something I don't like, I'll…I'll just go without, or I won't say anything about it." She arose and headed out, determined to present herself as a model guest next weekend and hoping she could pull Akima aside for some pointers about high school this evening.

Behind her, Roarke, Leslie and Christian looked at one another. "She's going to try, isn't she?" Christian asked finally, hazel eyes sparkling with amusement.

"Yes, she'll certainly try," Roarke agreed. "But whether she will succeed is a question only time will answer."

"I can answer it myself," Leslie said, grinning outright. "Even if she becomes the most polite and the least troublesome mermaid the Seven Seas have ever known, something's going to happen that'll make her break that vow. All we have to do is wait and see what that something is."

§ § § -- March 28, 2005

"Are you quite sure I must wear these…shoes all day?" Akima asked, staring at her feet and making a face. "They hurt far worse than having legs!"

"It's a rule, Akima," said Haruko. "School's full of rules, actually. I'll try to help as we go along, but…I mean, are you really sure you want to do this?"

"Yes, and you cannot stop me," Akima said firmly. She and Haruko were on their way to the main house; due to security concerns, Leslie was going to take them to school and present Akima as a visitor from abroad. "Even though these shoes pinch my poor feet, I will wear them all day. I do not understand why you are so unhappy about my coming to your school with you. Do you think I am so stupid that I will make you look a fool?"

"It's not that," Haruko protested uneasily. "It's just that high school can be…well, it can be really nasty. We have so many students from the military base on Coral Island that it's pretty much the same as school in America, at least that's what they say. So we have cliques and popular people and nerds and outcasts, everything except jocks and cheerleaders. I know some girls who are incredibly cruel and think that everybody who isn't like them is inferior. And then there's David Omamara and his crowd…"

"They do not frighten me," Akima said haughtily. "Why should I, Akima, a princess of the Seven Seas, be frightened of a batch of mere mortal teenagers? I outrank all of them, and they will know it if they try to cross me." She squeezed Haruko's shoulder. "And if they try to harm you, they will answer to me. You are my friend, and I will not let them hurt you." Having said that, she seemed to consider the matter closed, and continued marching along the path with her head held high.

Haruko felt guilty. It hadn't crossed her mind to think that Akima might willingly leap to her defense if anyone tried to pick on her. Ashley Blake (whom Haruko privately called "Ashley Flake"), Sarah Strunk ("Sarah Drunk"), and Brittany Simpson ("Brittany Simple") were the three snobs, all from Coral Island, who bugged Haruko the most. Some days she was able to steer clear of them, other days it seemed she ran into them everywhere she went. She had school friends who also lived on the Air Force base, and a close friend who lived here on Fantasy Island; but they, too, had problems with this clique, which oddly made them more bearable to Haruko. David Omamara, on the other hand, seemed to ignore everyone except her when he decided to pick on somebody; and Akima's defense might well come in handy in his case. She fell silent, deciding it was just the better part of discretion not to question Akima any further.

By the time Roarke and Leslie returned from the plane dock, Akima and Haruko had been talking with Christian for a few minutes, since he was waiting there with the triplets. "His Highness has thought of a wonderful idea," exclaimed Akima when their hosts alighted from the jeep. "It will be a perfect disguise for me."

"A cover story?" Leslie asked with interest.

Christian grinned. "I merely suggested she tell anyone who asks that she comes from a place called Neptune Island, and that if anyone persists in knowing where that is, say it's near Lilla Jordsö and if they don't believe it, just ask me."

They all burst out laughing. "That, my dear Christian, may well be a spark of genius," Roarke observed cheerfully. "It should go a long way toward solving the problem of where Akima comes from. I wish both you girls a pleasant day in school, and Christian and Leslie, I hope you and the children will have a good day."

"I think we're going to the beach," Leslie said. "Christian needs some mindless relaxation after spending almost all weekend fixing that laptop."

"Did you ever find out where the bug came from, Mr. Enstad?" Haruko asked as she and Akima crawled into the very back of the Enstads' car for the trip to school.

"Yeah," said Leslie, settling into the front passenger seat while Christian took the wheel, "I was wondering about that myself."

Christian pulled away from the main house toward the Ring Road. "My client had the same question, and when I delivered his repaired laptop last evening, he asked if I'd turned up any clues as to the origin of the problem. I suggested he check his e-mail account and asked him which was the last message he had looked at. It was something from a relative of his wife with whom he had never gotten along, apparently, and had a harmless-looking attachment. The relative had pretended to want to make amends, but when my client opened the attachment, he released the Trojan horse. I told him to pursue the legal ramifications of the matter; I don't know how far he'll get, but it's worth looking into, since this thing has the potential to cause far more destruction if it gets spread around."

Leslie shook her head in disbelief. "How insane. All that because of some stupid family feud. I'm glad you figured it all out."

"People can be incredibly cruel, can't they, Mr. Enstad?" Haruko observed.

"Exactly so," Christian said, driving through town. "And it's a shame."

Akima turned to Haruko at that point and said confidently, "I told you you are not to worry. If anyone tries to hurt you, they will answer to me. You are my friend, and I do not desert my friends." Haruko smiled, but she couldn't quite stifle the jitters.

At the school Christian parked and waited with the babies while Leslie took Haruko and Akima into the building. The principal and secretary were decidedly surprised to see her, but she simply smiled. "I just wanted to clear this with you, as the authorities," she said. "This is…Akima McCall, and she's a guest of ours. Haruko Miyamoto's a ninth-grader here, and she and Akima have become friends. Akima was curious about school here, so we'd like to arrange for her to be a visitor for a day and accompany Haruko to her classes."

"I think we can handle that," the principal said with interest. "Welcome, Akima. Where do you come from?"

"Neptune Island," said Akima with a smile.

The adults looked at each other, and Leslie said quickly, "It's not too far from Lilla Jordsö, actually."

The principal's face cleared and he nodded. "I see. Well, I hope you'll enjoy your visit to our school, Akima." He attached a visitor card to Akima's lapel. "All right, girls, you're free to go to Haruko's homeroom. Thank you for bringing them in, Miss Leslie."

In the main hallway Leslie paused and said, "Well, enjoy yourselves, and good luck. When school lets out for the day, Haruko, go on over to the main house, and Father'll take you down to the beach so Akima can be changed back into a mermaid."

Haruko threw a frantic glance or two around her, but it wasn't long till the first bell and students were headed for their homerooms, paying them no attention. "Okay, Miss Leslie. Thanks a lot for helping us out so much, and tell Mr. Enstad thanks too."

"I will," Leslie promised. "Have a great day." Haruko and Akima watched her go back out the door, and then Haruko gave a sigh, as much in the hope of calming her abdominal butterflies as to release tension.

"Well, why do we not go?" Akima asked eagerly. "I am ready."

"I'm not," Haruko murmured just to herself, before signaling at her friend to follow her and making her way towards her homeroom.

Most of the students in Haruko's morning classes accepted the idea of Akima being a visitor for the day, without even asking where from. Haruko's usual lunch crowd—Emily Hunter and Penina Silverberg, who lived on the Air Force base, and Kameli Noholoa, a native Fantasy Islander—found Akima interesting as well, though Kameli in particular seemed slightly skeptical. Haruko had been wondering whether she ought to go ahead and tell Kameli at least, but something kept her from doing it.

Then it happened: Ashley Blake, Sarah Strunk and Brittany Simpson arrived and took up the empty space at the end of the long table where the girls were sitting. "Oh, look, it's Ashley Flake," Haruko muttered to Kameli, who blinked and giggled.

"Ashley Flake?" Kameli repeated, delighted. "That's a great name. Any other ones?"

Haruko giggled too, but before she could respond Brittany Simpson spotted Akima sitting with them and jabbed Ashley in the ribs. "Hey, Ash, look, there's some new girl over there. But look who she's sitting with."

"Oh God, those losers?" Sarah groaned with exaggerated disgust.

"Hey, Strunk, hasn't your father the private gotten transferred off base yet?" Penina jeered back, and her friends giggled. Akima watched wide-eyed, her face a mask of sheer fascination. Haruko sighed softly to herself, realizing her new friend was about to get a big lesson in the social structure of Fantasy Island High's ninth grade.

"They'll transfer your loser of a father before they do mine," Sarah retorted, her mouth twisting with sudden hatred and thus giving her face a mean cast that reminded Haruko of pictures of Adolf Hitler. "Have to get rid of the trash, after all."

"That's funny," Kameli drawled, eyeing Brittany. "You're the one who's been whining about how your family's about to be transferred any day now."

"And frankly, we can't wait for you to go," Haruko put in. "That crummy stink I've noticed around here will disappear once you leave."

"She smells bad?" Akima asked, an astonished look on her face.

Haruko's friends giggled; Sarah went red, and her pals glanced at each other. Haruko saw Ashley and Brittany snicker behind their hands. "Yeah, take a good sniff of the air," suggested Penina. "Don't you smell that stink? Kinda like dead rotting fish or something?"

Akima stared at her, then made a face of such revulsion that Haruko winced. "If she smells like that, then you should do what we do. Throw her into the sea as food for the sharks. It is the only way we can save the dignity of fish that meet such a fate."

"The dignity of fish?" Ashley blurted and broke down laughing. "Wow, you pick some weird people for friends, Silverberg. Where in heck is she from anyway?"

"I am from Neptune Island," Akima said, eyeing Ashley down her nose. "A place where we at least know how to treat people with respect, unlike you. If you are among those who come from the next island, you must be one of those mainland remoras who are always scavenging from our seas and poisoning everything you touch." She turned to Haruko and added earnestly, "Next weekend when you come under the sea with me, I will show you things that humans have done to ruin our beautiful oceans."

"Who is she, some kind of flake?" Ashley asked of no one in particular.

"No, that's you, Ashley Flake," said Kameli, touching off laughter again. "Flake off."

Amid the renewed giggling, Akima said, "Now that you mention it, perhaps I do smell rotten fish. But it seems to come from that girl, rather than the other one."

"Oh, trust me, Sarah Flunk smells like fish too," Penina said. She leaned forward and went on as though in confidence, "See, Sarah and I used to be friends, but then she got all snarky and stupid. She thinks she's better than anybody else because she's blonde and blue-eyed, and she's been picking on me because I'm Jewish. Plus, she picks on Emily because Emily's African-American, as you can see."

"Sarah Flunk?" said Haruko with a grin. "I've been calling her Sarah Drunk." Penina laughed delightedly and gave her a thumbs-up, while Akima pored over her words of a moment before.

"What is 'Jewish'?" Akima asked. "And why does this girl 'pick on' you, and why does it matter if Emily is African-American?"

Penina shook her dark head, gray eyes flashing. "Sarah's just one of those morons who think everything Jewish or black is evil. She used to be nice, but now she's a loser." She glanced at Sarah, who was staring at them with a malevolent look on her face. "She knows she's a loser, but she tries to pretend she isn't by calling everybody else a loser."

"But why?" Akima persisted, completely puzzled. "What is wrong with Jewish? And black is a very friendly color. The color of the night sky with all its stars." Emily looked at her in surprise and then grinned, a genuinely friendly and contagious grin that had always made Haruko grin back.

"Nothing's wrong with either one of them," said Haruko forcefully. "It's a really, really long story, Akima. In this case, stupid Sarah's trying to make herself look good, but the more she spits out her poison, the more she proves how stupid she really is."

Sarah turned to her lunchmates and whined, "Do we have to sit here and listen to them talking about me like that?"

"Better you than us," said Brittany.

"And they're right," Ashley put in. "You're a loser, Sarah, and a whiner too. Why don't you stuff it up your butt?" When Haruko and her friends snickered, she shot them a withering look. "Not that you idiots aren't losers too."

"What is this, third grade?" Emily said, speaking for the first time. "All this stupid name-calling and 'I'm better than you' crap." She glared at Ashley, Brittany and Sarah. "If you don't have enough brains to think of anything more intelligent to say to us, then you oughta enroll in the local preschool and learn some manners." She glanced at Penina, then Haruko, then Kameli, and smiled at them all before adding to Sarah, "This isn't World-War-II Germany, Strunk, and it's not the slavery era. And like it or not, you're going to run into people who aren't blonde or blue-eyed and don't have papery-white skin like yours. So cut out the stupid Ku Klux Klan act and grow up."

Akima had been listening, and now she turned full-bore on Sarah and said in a dangerous-sounding voice, "I suppose you are prejudiced against mermaids as well."

The other girls looked at one another and Haruko froze, a deer staring at the business end of a hunter's rifle. Ashley and Brittany stared at each other and started to giggle loudly; Sarah blinked dumbly at Akima; and Emily and Penina looked at each other with odd expressions. Only Kameli had a knowing look on her own attractive Polynesian features. "Mermaid, huh?" she whispered to Haruko.

"I'll tell you later," Haruko whispered back and leaned to Akima, pleading in a frantic little hiss, "Don't say any more, please!"

"You are a fool," Akima said without lowering her voice and without taking her eyes off Sarah. "Haruko is my friend: she saved my life. Haruko's friends are also my friends, and I can see that they are different. Emily has very dark skin, and Penina is this Jewish, and I can see that Kameli is of this island. And Haruko is a native of Japan. They are different from each other as well as you, but they are all friends. I see that your friends have yellow hair and blue eyes and pale skin just as you do. Are you afraid of anyone with different colors?"

"I know what probably happened," Kameli said with a smirk. "Her box of crayons must have terrorized her as a child, and the only ones that'd stick up for her were the yellow and blue and white crayons."

"Just a second," said Ashley, looking astonished. "You have blonde hair and blue eyes too, you know. What's that say about you?"

Haruko snapped, "It says she has a brain, which is about half a brain more than you have. They can outlaw harassment because of bigotry, but I guess they can't outlaw prejudice or the stupidity that causes it. There's a whole load of empty seats all over this lunchroom, but you came over here and sat with us. If you hate us that much, why don't you just stay away from us all? Go sit someplace else."

"It'll sure smell better around here," commented Penina.

Sarah turned to Brittany and Ashley. "Yeah, come on, let's move," she said. "Who needs to listen to their gibberish anyway?"

Ashley and Brittany shrugged at each other and got up, toting their trays and bookbags away. Sarah followed a few steps behind, casting them one last glare for good measure. As soon as they were far enough away, Emily, Penina and Kameli all peered curiously at Akima, and Emily queried, "What was that remark about the mermaids all about?"

Akima assumed a blank look and blinked a few times. "Mermaids? Did I say something about mermaids? I cannot remember mentioning mermaids."

Haruko struggled desperately not to laugh while Penina and Emily looked at each other and Kameli eyed Akima knowingly. "I heard the word _mermaids_ too," Penina agreed.

"Don't forget where you are," Kameli reminded them then, in a mysterious voice that sounded much too much like Roarke. "Anything can happen here, you know that, right?"

Emily and Penina looked at each other again, then at Akima who just smiled in a very innocent sort of way, and then at Kameli, before exchanging one last look and chorusing firmly, "No way." Akima's innocent smile widened, Kameli gave Haruko a speaking look and a solemn wink, and Haruko grinned, suddenly feeling her appetite return.


	9. Chapter 9

§ § § -- April 2, 2005

The next Saturday morning Haruko appeared at the main house clad in a bathing suit and bouncing with excitement. "What do I have to do, Mr. Roarke?" she asked.

"For the moment, we'll wait for Christian and Leslie," Roarke said. "They are feeding the triplets, and once they come downstairs, we'll all leave for the beach. Christian will drive us, since he has to go to his office anyhow."

Haruko nodded, glancing at the ceiling and hoping the triplets were almost done with their breakfast. She had been anticipating this all week long, and it had been all she could do not to confide in Penina, Emily and especially Kameli.

After a few minutes Christian and Leslie came downstairs, Leslie with a canvas tote bag swinging from one hand. Instead of her usual smart white pantsuit trimmed in black, Leslie was clad in white shorts and a Caribbean-blue blouse tied in a knot at her waist. "We're all set, Father," she said and grinned at Haruko. "Ready?"

"You bet," Haruko said eagerly, and the adults laughed.

"In that case, let's go," Christian suggested. "I have to make my final hiring decision today, and I want to put out the word that I'm looking for a secretary."

"You didn't mention that," Leslie observed as they headed out the door. "So who're you planning to take on?"

Christian smiled mysteriously. "Oh, that's a secret," he said. "If it goes well, I'll tell you at supper this evening. As for you, my sweet wife, perhaps you can explain the unusual work clothes you're wearing today."

She smirked at him and said sweetly, "I really should tell you it's a secret, just to pay you back for that." They laughed, especially after Christian gave her a comically hangdog look that made Leslie cheerfully relent. "Oh, okay…it's part of a fantasy. Father's supervising Haruko and Akima this weekend, and I get a break. I'm one of the judges of the regatta at the Enclave marina, and once I help Father get Haruko started, I'm heading down there."

"As Leslie said, the regatta is part of a guest's fantasy this weekend," Roarke put in, "and since she will be visible enough in the judges' stand and will be there for the better part of the day, I suggested she wear comfortable clothing."

"Ah, that makes sense," Christian said. "Well, since you were so generous, I'll tell you my secret as well. I've decided to hire Taro Sensei, and I'm going to call him and ask him to come in today to complete his paperwork. If it's busy enough, I'll have him work a half-day and see how he gets on with the others and with the workload."

"Taro Sensei?" Roarke repeated. "So he has returned to the island after all!"

Christian and Leslie looked at him, then at each other. "Hmm, sounds like you know more than we do," Leslie remarked. "Just wait till lunch, Father."

Laughingly Roarke held up both hands. "Before you two gang up on me, I should inform you that I have little more knowledge of his reasons than you do. However, should he need help, I have no doubt we will hear from him. I hope all goes well, Christian. Shall we be on our way? I see our young guest is becoming extremely agitated."

Haruko realized she was fidgeting and jittery, flexing her knees and drumming the fingers of both hands against her thighs, and grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, Mr. Roarke."

Christian chuckled. "As well we leave now—I'll be late otherwise." They climbed into the car and drove into town; Christian dropped them off at the alleyway that ended near the sand, waved to them and backed out so he could park in front of his office. Roarke, Leslie and Haruko plodded across the sand, rounded a palm-tree-studded point of land and came out onto the little beach on the other side. There was much less driftwood and other marine debris here, since it was somewhat protected from the stronger wind by the trees they had just come around. They could see Akima's golden head bobbing in the shallows perhaps twenty yards out; when she saw them file onto the sand she waved gaily at them.

"Hello, Akima," Roarke called while Haruko waved back. "Are you ready to guide Haruko through your world this weekend?"

"Oh yes, I can hardly wait to show her my favorite places!" Akima exclaimed. "It is quite strange really, Mr. Roarke. After being a human for a weekend, I discovered I had truly missed all the places I grew up with, and I had to revisit each and every one. Now I am glad I did, for I can show it all to Haruko."

"Very good," Roarke said and smiled. "Well, then, Haruko, are you ready?"

Haruko grinned. "I think so. What do I do?"

Roarke nodded towards the water. "Just walk into the water toward Akima, and when you are standing at her side, turn back around to face me." He and Leslie watched Haruko make her way into the gentle wavelets, come abreast of Akima and then turn back to look at them, a bright, hopeful grin on her face.

"Now what?" she called.

"Immerse yourself in the water," Roarke instructed, "and…" He paused, cleared his throat and glanced at Leslie, who smiled sympathetically and took pity on him.

"You'll have to take off your bathing suit, Haruko," she said. "I'll come out there and get it. Just duck under the water enough to get it off without anyone seeing you."

Haruko stared at her in disbelief, her smile vanishing instantly. "I have to be naked?"

"We do not wear clothing in the water, Haruko," Akima said. "Surely you knew that from the day you rescued me."

Haruko blushed so deeply that Roarke and Leslie could plainly see her red face from the sand. "Oh, geez…I completely forgot about that." She hesitated, plucked at her suit, then looked up pleadingly. "Couldn't I at least keep the top on?"

"I think you had better bow to Akima's discretion on that," Roarke advised. "If she feels that you, being new to the marine world, might be allowed to retain your modesty, I see no reason you can't do so. However, since it's her world, she may feel differently."

Akima gave Haruko a stern look. "Now, Haruko, my friend, I wore clothing, I dealt with legs, and I even wore those terrible shoes when I went to your school with you. I may have complained, but I did it all the same. You said there were rules, and I conformed to them. Now it is your turn to follow my rules."

"But…" Haruko protested weakly, floundering.

Akima sighed loudly enough for Roarke and Leslie to hear. "Haruko, no one will look strangely at you! It is more likely they would do so if you wear that little piece of fabric across your chest. Not one of us does such a thing. Do you not wish to fit in?"

The thought of standing out didn't really bother Haruko, at least in this case, but she didn't want to feel like a sideshow freak either. "Are you really sure nobody'll look?"

"It is completely normal for us," Akima said with a reassuring nod. "Trust me."

"Okay," Haruko finally said, very reluctantly, and slowly sank into the water till the waves lapped at her chin. Her face seemed somehow to get even redder while she bobbed oddly in the water, working off her two-piece suit. After a couple of minutes she said, "I guess I'm ready, Miss Leslie."

Leslie, grinning in spite of herself, handed Roarke her sandals and struck out for the water, wading in till the waves nearly reached the hems of her shorts. She accepted the suit from Haruko, wrung as much water out of it as she could, and smiled. "You're gonna be just fine, Haruko. Whatever else you do, don't let yourself feel so self-conscious that you forget to just have fun this weekend. Have a great time, and Father and I'll see you here on this beach tomorrow evening, okay?"

Haruko smiled up at her, still bright red. "I'll try. Maybe it'll be easier once Mr. Roarke's actually turned me into a mermaid and I'm out there swimming around."

"It just might be," Leslie agreed, nodding encouragement. "Like I said, have fun, and good luck. Take good care of her, Akima." The mermaid nodded, beaming, and Leslie made her way back to the sand.

Haruko and Akima watched Roarke raise his right hand, extend the fingers, then rotate his hand slowly about a quarter-turn counterclockwise. Haruko gasped in shock; it felt as though her legs were somehow fusing together. The water bubbled and frothed around her. For some reason it suddenly became a little more difficult to breathe. Haruko lost her footing and fell facedown into the water; startled and panicking momentarily, she stopped herself with both palms and pushed herself back above the surface before she took a gasping breath. "Oh my…g-gosh!" she sputtered.

"Are you all right?" Akima exclaimed.

"I think so…only my…uh, the bottom half of me feels really weird, though." Haruko hovered there, still and quiet, assessing the odd sensation of having what felt like only one leg. "Is…is it over?"

"Kick your feet," Akima said, and Haruko made an attempt, though it was hard and her legs (or leg?) felt heavier. But Akima let out a delighted cry. "Haruko, look, look at your lovely tail! Mr. Roarke gave you such a pretty tail for the weekend!"

"He did?" Haruko gasped and twisted around in the water, trying to see over her shoulder and flip up her new tail at the same time. She managed to get the tailfins above the surface at least, and gasped again with delight. "Wow, it looks just like yours!"

"Oh, you make a wonderful mermaid," Akima said happily. "Are you ready to go now? I have so much to show you!"

At that moment Haruko was stricken by one thought. "How am I going to breathe? I still have lungs, I can still breathe in the air!"

Her exclamation carried up to the sand where Roarke and Leslie lingered, watching her discover herself as a mermaid. "You have gills also, Haruko," Roarke called. "Once you put your face under water and begin swimming, the gills will take over and you'll be fine. Your windpipe will seal off and protect your lungs."

"I've got gills? But where are they?" Haruko asked.

"Just at the back of your neck, under your hair," Akima said. "Feel them, but be very gentle. Does it not seem a little harder to breathe while you are in the air?" Haruko nodded, and Akima said, "That is because you have those gills now." Haruko reached tentatively for her nape and ever so lightly fingered the strange fleshy ridges she found there. Akima grinned, watching her, and prompted once more, "Are you ready now?"

"I think so," said Haruko, looking up at the beach one last time. "Thanks again, Mr. Roarke and Miss Leslie! See you tomorrow evening!"

They waved back, and Akima grabbed Haruko's hand and pulled her out into deeper water, diving at the same time. _Here goes,_ Haruko thought and submerged herself from head to toe…_wait, head to fins,_ she corrected. She felt warm sunlight on her tail for a second before it was pulled under along with her as she writhed gently to move her body through the water. Leslie had been right: her windpipe automatically sealed itself, and though she couldn't quite understand how, she felt oxygen getting to every cell through her new gills. Her lingering panic at being unable to breathe died away, and she concentrated on keeping up with Akima, amazed and delighted at the way her streamlined body and tail propelled her through the water at least twice as fast as she could ever have swum with arms and legs. Akima cast her a big grin over her shoulder and Haruko grinned back, euphoric. It was going to be a spectacular weekend!

She had no idea where Akima was taking her, but she didn't care. They dived down to some unknown depth and swam so far off the coast of the island that Haruko lost all her bearings and found herself keeping a sharp eye on her friend to prevent getting lost.

The water out here was clear, a sparkling, glowing rich blue, and filled with the most fascinating marine life—especially the exotic fish she'd anticipated seeing. Akima identified the various fishes for her (through telepathy, amazing Haruko yet again and answering another of her questions): longfin anthias, a colorful little fish of shiny lavender shading to purple, with red and yellow splotches along its back and near the tail; its cousin the bicolor anthias, orange on its upper half and pinkish lavender on the lower; young slenderspine grouper, purplish blue with neon-red stripes along its back and the edges of its fins; and blue-striped snapper, small yellow fish with light-blue lines edged in dark blue, so sharp they almost looked painted on.

There were also flame angelfish, bright orange with broad black vertical stripes; a species known as Susan's cardinalfish, of some indeterminate reddish color, with enormous eyes all out of proportion to its tiny body; and perhaps most striking of all, a wide variety of parrotfish, in a rainbow of iridescent colors from red to deep turquoise and some multicolored. Some, like the tricolor and violet-lined varieties, seemed to glow in the diffused sunlight; others, like Bleeker's and the redtail species, dazzled Haruko with their intricate patterns and beautiful coloring.

_This is such a blast!_ Haruko thought joyfully, zipping along behind Akima at speeds much faster than she had ever been able to swim as a human. _I could practically travel around the world in just this one weekend, if I can swim this fast…and imagine all the things I can see!_ It was hard to imagine all the things she already had seen, for that matter; but although she had long since lost all her bearings and had to keep Akima in sight at all times, she was learning that her mermaid friend's undersea world was no featureless, trackless void. There was something new and amazing around every corner.

_Haruko, my friend, look here,_ she suddenly heard Akima's voice in her head. _This is my favorite place in all the seven seas._ Haruko caught up with Akima and gazed through the blue depths at what looked like a very old sunken ship.

_Wow,_ she thought back at Akima. _How old is it?_

_They say it was part of Captain Cook's fleet,_ Akima told her_. I found it one day when I was feeling very sad, and I have come here ever since when I need to be alone and get away from all my brothers and sisters. I do not think there is any treasure in it, but I have never looked for it. What do I need with such things?_ She gave Haruko a thoughtful look_. But perhaps we can look for some. You could bring it back to your family._

_Oh, I don't care about that. Mama-san and Papa-san make enough money that we don't worry too much. But it would be fun just to see what a piece of eight looks like._

_A piece of eight? Oh, is that what one finds in treasure chests?_

_Sometimes._ Haruko grinned. _It's an old Spanish coin that isn't in circulation anymore. It's almost a legend. Human kids are raised on stories of pirate treasure chests full of jewels and gold coins, and they always mention "pieces of eight". I guess maybe all the treasure chests that really did have pieces of eight in them have already been found, and they always seem to be somewhere in the Caribbean or off the Florida coast. But it'd really be fun to look around inside that old wreck._ Excitement overcame her and she rocketed up nearly vertical from her swimming stance_. Do you think we can see some famous shipwrecks this weekend? Like the_ Titanic _and the_ Lusitania _and the_ Andrea Doria? _What a blast that'd be! Is it too far to swim?_

Akima thought it over. _All those wrecks are in the Atlantic Ocean and it's a very long swim really. We can swim very quickly when we must, but it is not the same thing as flying in one of your air machines. If we swam our very fastest, we would reach only the Panama Canal tonight, and we would have to go on swimming all night._ She smiled sympathetically at Haruko. _I am sorry that Mr. Roarke did not agree that you could have a whole week for your fantasy. Even I had three days in your world, and you now have only two in mine!_

Haruko tried to sigh and discovered it wasn't possible when one was breathing through gills. _Gosh, and I thought I could get another extra-credit report for my science class. Well, maybe this wreck would work for that, if we could just find out what its name is._

_There is no way to tell,_ Akima admitted. _It has been there so long, any name that was on it has disappeared long since. I just think of it as my ship. It's far enough from home that none of my snooping siblings has ever found it, so I always have a private place. Come with me and I will show you!_

The two swam forward and entered the wreck through a porthole that had been conveniently enlarged some time in the distant past, probably by a shark, judging from the big jagged hole that had left only half the original circle of the porthole. Inside, Haruko could see the remains of what must once have been the captain's cabin: she could pick out the bunk and a couple of storage cabinets, and in the middle of the room was a table that had been bolted to the floor. There was even a china saucer in the corner, which must have fallen off the table when the ship sank. Haruko imagined the captain sitting at one of the chairs that must have been here, enjoying a cup of tea maybe, when the ship started to go down and he had to abandon everything. She swam over to investigate the saucer, and heard Akima's giggle in her head. _It's only a little plate!_

Haruko picked it up and examined it with amazement. _But it's such a pretty one, though._ She turned it over and saw the legend _Wedgwood_ on the back, underneath which was the phrase _Jasper Ware_. Her eyes widened in amazement; she knew little about china, but Wedgwood was famous for the longevity of the company, its quality and its high price. Turning the saucer back over, she stared in admiration at the rich, deep-blue color, almost indigo, of the saucer. Its sides were high and the little plate bore some sort of classical design that Haruko thought looked like something from mythology. _How pretty this is._

_Do you like it? Then you should take it home with you,_ Akima offered.

Haruko whirled in the water and gaped at her. _But it's part of your ship. You found this wreck, right? That means it really belongs to you._

_If it belongs to me, then it means I can dispose of the contents as I wish. And I wish to give you that saucer. You can think of it as a souvenir of your visit to my world!_

Haruko swam over and hugged Akima, clutching the saucer in one hand. _You know what? I think you're the best friend I ever had. Thank you, thank you!_

Again she heard Akima's giggle in her head. _You are certainly the best friend I have ever had. And I never knew I could possibly be friends with a human._ She drew back and straightened with excitement. _Come with me, perhaps we can find more of these plates that you think are so pretty!_

_What if we do?_ Haruko wondered. _You'd actually give them away?_

_What use are they to me? All we need do is pick seaweed from our patches and eat it right there, whenever we are hungry. We do not require utensils or platters such as that. If there are more such things in this wreck, you can take them all. Follow me._ Akima swam out a large rectangular hole that was missing its door, and Haruko followed, suddenly eager to see the wreck and wondering what else might be here besides vintage Wedgwood. She might not find any pieces of eight, but she was having a fantastic time, and that was all that really mattered.

‡ ‡ ‡

"So what's the game plan, Boss Prince?" Julianne asked when Christian had settled at his desk for the morning and looked cursorily over the work that waited to be done. "The calls are coming in pretty hot—I'm starting to fall behind."

"Oh?" Christian said curiously, eyeing her. "Don't worry, Julianne, I haven't forgotten about the possibility of hiring a receptionist." She turned red, and he grinned. "I've already put an ad in the _Chronicle_, so I expect we'll have walk-in traffic for that as well as for repair and installation projects. You're the one who takes all the calls; maybe I should have you interview for the position."

Julianne made a face. "Geez, how do you always seem to know what I'm thinking? I sort of thought I'd find this roundabout way to tell you we could still use a receptionist, and you just waltz in and read my mind. I was even thinking I'd like to have some control over who gets interviewed. How do you do that?"

Christian laughed and teased, "All bosses have to have the ability to read minds, and those who don't will never become bosses." He chuckled when she rolled her eyes good-naturedly, and settled back, growing serious. "Well, you know I'll oversee the interviewing and hiring of the receptionist, but I don't know that he or she will need to have computer-repair skills. It isn't true of the receptionists in my other branches. If you think about it, you'll see it's not necessary, for the calls the receptionist takes off your hands will free more of your time to do repairs and programming. Here." He pulled open a drawer, walked his fingers along folder tabs till he reached the one he wanted, and withdrew a sheaf of papers from inside. "Keep these on your desk, and whenever someone comes in asking to apply for the position, give them one. I'll leave the application period open through Tuesday and begin interviews on Wednesday. Now, then, do me a favor and get back to work."

Julianne grinned, accepted the stack of applications from him and retreated to her desk. Christian went swiftly through his e-mail, answered a message from his Santi Arcuros manager, and then pulled the phone forward and punched out the number Taro Sensei had left on his application.

To his surprise, Taro had to be sent for, and he frowned slightly in puzzlement; then he recalled that Taro had said he'd just gotten back the same day he applied for the job. He must be rooming with his parents for the time being. "Hello, this is Taro," Christian heard suddenly, interrupting his thoughts, and the prince pulled himself back to the present.

"Hello, Taro, this is Christian Enstad," he said, using the identification he normally employed. In Lilla Jordsö he had resigned himself to bowing to the inevitable and referring to himself as Prince Christian.

"Oh, yes, hello, Your Highness," Taro said, "how are you?"

"Well, and you?" When Taro had given the standard answer, Christian cleared his throat and went straight to the point. "You have no plans for the day? I've decided to give you the job, and if you can, I'd like you to start this afternoon. I'd expect you at one."

"I can do that," Taro said. "I'm staying with my parents, and they can keep an eye on my kids while I'm at work. I really appreciate this, Your Highness. Is there anything special I should bring with me? A dress code I should know about?"

"We're usually informal here," Christian told him. "You can wear jeans if you like, and you need not bring anything with you, unless you have photos or knickknacks you'd like to keep on your desk." He paused a moment. "You have children?"

"Three," said Taro. "My daughter Stephanie is fourteen, my son Noah turns seven in June, and then Tertia will be a year old on July 5…we just call her Tia."

"She's just about a month younger than my triplets," Christian remarked in passing, bringing up employment forms to print out. "All right, then, we'll see you at one."

Hanging up, he printed out the employment forms and set them aside, then swiveled his chair to face his work arm and resumed a massive installation project left over from the previous day. He still wondered about Taro, though, in the back of his mind, and decided finally that he'd ask Leslie and Roarke for more information at lunch. He couldn't pin it down precisely, but he thought Taro sounded slightly anxious, slightly secretive. Christian thought his father-in-law sounded as if he knew more than he'd let on, and he wanted to know as much as he could, in case there was some chance they could help Taro.


	10. Chapter 10

§ § § -- April 2, 2005

_Oh my God…__this__ is where you live??_ Haruko gaped, astounded, at the magnificent coral structure that nestled into the rocky sea bottom. _It looks like a castle, and yet…it doesn't!_

_Of course,_ Akima replied proudly. _We have lived here for many, many centuries. My ancestors carefully shaped this place so that we could live here, yet not harm the living coral that makes up our home. And they were just as careful to see that it blended into the sea life well enough for ordinary humans to be unable to recognize it as our home, but so that we could, if we ever somehow became lost._ She grinned broadly. _No one is home just now, so we can do as we will. And I will show you my little room._ She arrowed through the water towards the coral castle, and Haruko followed, eager to see her friend's home.

They wriggled through a roughly arch-shaped entrance and twisted and turned around corners and through apertures till Haruko was dizzy and hopelessly lost. Finally Akima swam into what Haruko might have called a cave, with just one little hole to let in light from above. It was like a natural skylight, admitting a shaft of blue-tinted sunlight that lit the pale coral-pink walls of what Haruko realized was Akima's room. There was a platform that must be Akima's bed, and haphazardly placed depressions in two "walls" that served as shelves. Most of these little depressions held a wild assortment of marine flotsam and jetsam, including a wine bottle from some old shipwreck. The cork was still tightly wedged into the top, and the liquid inside appeared to be undisturbed. Akima caught her looking at it and grinned. _That's my souvenir from my first-ever visit to the wreck of the_ Titanic. _Daddy says when I am fully mature and am wed to a nice young merman, we can open that bottle to celebrate my wedding. I hope you can come to it!_

_Well, I'm sure it's gonna be a long time till you get married,_ Haruko joked. _But I'd get a kick out of coming to it…as long as I'm 21 by then, so I can drink some of your wine too._

_You're right, it will be a very long time before I am married,_ Akima agreed, floating across the room and flinging up the lid of a big wooden chest. _And I don't mind. I'm having far too much fun being young and carefree._ She withdrew a long necklace of nautilus shells and looped it over her head. _Would you like to leave your plate here for safekeeping?_

Haruko wiggled her tail enough to propel herself over to inspect the chest. _Did you get that off a shipwreck too? Was there treasure in it when you found it?_

_No, there was almost nothing in it really, only a family of crabs. I store my shell necklaces in this and whatever shipwreck items I find that are too big to fit into my walls. You can leave your plate here and no one will disturb it—I have trained my miserable mersiblings not to come into my private room. We have all day and I know where there are more wrecks. Perhaps you will find some treasures that you can take with you._

_That's if divers haven't already taken everything worth looking for. But it'd be fun. Okay, I'll leave it here. Um…are you hungry?_

_Yes, I was just about to ask you that! Let me show you where our best seaweed patch is, and you will never again be able to eat seafood prepared the human way._ Akima waited till Haruko had gently placed her saucer in the chest, then let the lid fall shut and led the way out of her room and back through the mad maze of passageways. Somehow they got back outside, and in a few minutes Haruko was discovering that Akima hadn't exaggerated about the taste of the seaweed eaten by merpeople. Thus fortified, the two swam off, on their way to more ancient shipwrecks.

By the time the day ended and the two friends had settled down in Akima's room for the night, Haruko had a small pile of treasure all her own. She and Akima had played with a group of dolphins, swum with a huge school of fish, basked in waters warmed by a subterranean volcanic vent, and once even fought off a shark. The day had been so eventful that her life on land almost seemed like a faraway dream. She could hardly wait for tomorrow.

§ § § -- April 3, 2005

"Day two of the regatta," Leslie said at breakfast, scooping the last bite into a small pile on her plate. "I think Mr. Hedges did well yesterday, but he's got really stiff competition. And someone reported a shark sighting in the area."

"Is it true what I heard?" Christian put in, pouring a little more mango juice. "That Jimmy and Camille's son is competing?"

"Actually, yeah," said Leslie. "Brian's still got boat fever, of course, and he couldn't resist the idea of throwing his hat in. He got David and some of his school friends from the island together to act as his crew, but it was more to keep them out of potential trouble than because he thought it'd help." Roarke and Christian both looked curiously at her, and she grinned. "They're enthusiastic enough, but they have absolutely no clue what they're doing. I bet Brian can't wait till Kevin's old enough to come out on boats with him." Kevin Knight was now nearly fourteen months old and, according to Lauren, tearing around the house on a perpetual destructive bent.

The men laughed. "I truly sympathize with Brian," Christian said, glancing at the triplets, who sat in their high chairs waiting for more food. Karina was still content enough to be fed, but both Tobias and Susanna were eager to stuff their own small faces, and Leslie usually let them. It meant spectacular messes and a lot of dirty laundry, but both she and Christian knew it would be worth it in the long run. Their children were ten months old now and developing so fast that Leslie was already a little nostalgic for the first month or two after their birth.

"If there has been a shark sighting," Roarke said, "you'd better make an announcement before the day's races begin, Leslie. I'd feel better if the participants were prepared."

"Speaking of sharks," Leslie said, "I wonder how Haruko's been doing."

"I will make a discreet check on her and Akima this morning," said Roarke. "Where are the children going while you two are away?"

Christian let out a slightly rueful laugh. "I'll have to take them in to work with me," he said. "None of our friends could watch them, and since you mentioned Mariki and her staff are helping with that enormous business banquet at the pond restaurant, that leaves no one but me. I'll have to ask you to help load their playpen into the car, my Rose."

They soon finished breakfast, and while Roarke returned to the study for a few final tasks, Christian and Leslie loaded the triplets' playpen into the back of their car, then secured the babies into their car seats. "You're sure you can manage, my love?" Leslie asked, surveying her son and daughters and then studying her husband.

Christian chuckled and kissed her. "Don't worry, my Rose, they'll be fine. They'll have more than enough attention from Beth and Julianne, and they might even attract customers." Laughing, Leslie hugged him and stepped back to watch him settle behind the wheel and drive off. When the car disappeared around the bend, she ducked back into the house long enough to let Roarke know she was leaving, then swung into the jeep parked beside the fountain and started on her way to the Enclave's marina.

Roarke finished what few items remained, then straightened the desk and left the house, taking a path through the jungle that eventually turned him out on a beach some little distance west of the hospital, out of its sight. He sat on a rock and watched the ocean, gauging its condition, while he slowly removed enough clothing to facilitate the change he needed to make. It had been a long time since he'd performed this transformation on himself, and he wanted to be sure he got the process right. He sat quietly for a few minutes, going over the procedure several times, then smiled just slightly and arose, taking slow, deliberate steps toward the incoming surf.

Haruko and Akima, meanwhile, were swimming lazily through the tranquil water, watching all sorts of colorful fish darting by, trying to decide what they were going to do that day. _We should try to fill it as much as we can,_ Akima mused. _After all, you have to go back home this evening. And we shouldn't forget the lovely things you found yesterday._

_That's right,_ Haruko agreed. She frowned thoughtfully, then bolted vertical in the water. _Hey, I just remembered. There's supposed to be a regatta at the Enclave marina this weekend…Miss Leslie's one of the judges. Want to go and watch? I've never seen boat wakes from underwater before._

Akima grinned lazily. _That might be fun. Maybe some good-looking human boy will fall overboard and we can save him—and if you know him, you can have fun listening to him trying to tell people at school about how two mermaids rescued him!_

They laughed, telepathically, at that idea, but thought it would be interesting to check out the regatta in any case. About to start swimming in that direction, they suddenly noticed a figure heading directly for them. _Who's that?_ Haruko wondered.

_I think it's a merman,_ Akima replied, staring. _Maybe it's Daddy…no, Great Neptune, it's Mr. Roarke! How did he do that??_

_Holy cow,_ was all Haruko could think. It was indeed Roarke, swimming gracefully and expertly toward them, smiling once he was within view. Haruko couldn't stop gaping; it was patently surreal to see Roarke like this, bare-chested and with the lower half of his body replaced by a long, strong tail. When he caught up with them, he drew himself up vertical as well, his tail flipping gently back and forth now and then to keep him upright. He smiled at Haruko, who abruptly remembered she had been topless all weekend and slammed both arms across her chest, hoping neither Roarke nor Akima would comment.

But Akima was too stunned by Roarke's mere presence. _Mr. Roarke, that is truly amazing!_ she exclaimed. _How in Neptune's name did you do that? You make a very impressive merman!_

_Thank you,_ Roarke replied humorously._ Haruko, have you been enjoying your fantasy?_

_Oh, tons, Mr. Roarke. It's been loads of fun. I've learned so much about the ocean already, and Akima showed me eight shipwrecks yesterday. I found a lot of old-fashioned jewelry, and one wreck even had a real vintage Wedgwood saucer. I got a natural pearl from an oyster, and we played with some dolphins, and Akima even fought off a nosy shark. She's really brave—I wish I had that much courage._

Roarke smiled. _I am very glad to hear you're having such a good time. I might remind you, while I'm here, that you are to return to land at six o'clock this evening. Akima should have the same sense of time that most merpeople are born with, and she can keep track of the hour and make certain you are at the beach near town at the proper moment._ Both girls nodded, and he relaxed a bit in the water, glancing back and forth between them. _Had you any special plans for today?_

_We thought we would watch boats racing,_ Akima told him. _Haruko says she has never seen a wake from below, and I know how to keep safe from rushing boats._

_Ah,_ responded Roarke. _As a matter of fact, Leslie noted that someone had seen a shark in the area during yesterday's races. Perhaps, if you wish, you might watch for the animal and see if you can distract it so that it goes elsewhere._

_Oh, a grand diversion,_ Akima said enthusiastically. _Do not worry, Mr. Roarke, those boaters will be safe now. Thank you for telling us!_

_Of course,_ Roarke replied. _I must return—remain safe, and if there is any serious danger, you may call me if need be. Enjoy your day, girls, and I will see you this evening._ He swam away, with Haruko and Akima waving after him, Haruko still holding one arm over her chest.

Once he had vanished from their sight, Haruko looked nervously at Akima. _Do you think we can keep that shark away from the regatta?_

_It's nothing at all, Haruko, my friend._ Akima shrugged dismissively. _Perhaps the shark will go somewhere else, and we can enjoy the races in peace. Now you need only tell me where this marina is, and we will be on our way._

_Remember the beach where you washed up in that storm, with all that yucky seaweed? That's the boardwalk, and the marina is about a quarter-mile west of that._

_Oh, I see! Then it will be easy to find. Let's hurry._ Akima barreled forward, and Haruko rushed after her, looking forward to their afternoon.

At the Enclave marina, under a slightly rickety little bamboo shelter with a grass roof, sat Leslie with two other judges, watching the contestants making final preparations for the day's first race. She wondered idly if Roarke had contacted Akima and Haruko as yet, and figured things must be going all right or he would have gotten in touch with her. Christian had given her his cell phone to use in case she wanted to call now and then for updates on the triplets, and she had slipped it into the front pocket of the same deep-turquoise blouse she had worn the previous day, set to vibrate. She had already made the announcement regarding the shark sighting and hoped it would stay well away from the area today.

She and the other judges scanned the water and gazed across the marina and the boats that were participating, and picked out Brian's beloved sailboat, the _Jenny_. She grinned to herself, watching the figures of Brian's last-minute teenage crew milling around seemingly without purpose, and reflected that Brian probably would have been much better off sailing alone. She'd talked to Lauren briefly the previous evening and gotten the same opinion from her. As Leslie looked on, the _Jenny_'s sail slowly began to go up, progressing in fits and starts, till Brian's slightly larger figure popped up from below and hollered at the boys raising it loudly enough that Leslie and her fellow judges could hear him.

She giggled, and the judge at her left—the marina manager—chuckled with her. "He should've gone it alone," he remarked.

"That's what his wife said," Leslie replied, grinning, "and I'm afraid I agree with her." Laughing, they fell into a discussion regarding the various craft and which ones they thought had the best chance of progressing to the final contests. Meanwhile the contestants went on preparing, and eventually Leslie checked the time and shifted in her chair. "Here we go."

For the next three hours things went beautifully. The man whose fantasy involved the regatta had easily won the two heats in which he was racing, and he loitered nervously below the judges' booth now, watching heat after heat, clearly trying to get some kind of bead on what competition he faced that afternoon. Now and then he threw a glance over his shoulder at Leslie, as if looking for reassurance, but she merely shrugged once and after that pretended not to see him. After all, she had to be impartial.

When the lunch break came, Leslie was very surprised to find that Brian and his impromptu "crew" had managed to make the finals in the sailing category. As she was standing in line at a kiosk, waiting to get a quick stir-fry bowl for lunch, both Brian and the fantasizer caught up with her. "Well, Leslie," Brian said, getting in the first word, "when are you and Lauren gonna admit that it's time to eat your words?"

Leslie grinned. "Not till you win—_if_ you win," she said. "And don't forget, standing here buttonholing the judge is going to look as if you're trying to curry favor."

Brian rolled his eyes; the guest, on the other hand, looked a little startled. "Would that disqualify me?" he wanted to know.

Leslie shrugged again. "Depends on how much you talk to me. Come on, Brian, quit trying to justify an _I told you so_ when you don't know yet if you've even got it."

Brian sighed and threw his hands in the air. "All right, all right, but I tell you right now, you and Lauren'll have to apologize." He made a shooting motion at her with his forefinger and thumb, then strode off.

"Huh," Leslie muttered to herself after both Brian and the guest had left. "Too cocky. I don't care how good he is with boats, he's just too sure of himself." Her turn in line came up and she gave her order, and when she got it she hurried back to the judges' booth, in no mood for any more contact with the racers. Brian was being good-naturedly smug about the whole thing; the guest was taking it much too seriously as far as Leslie was concerned. She knew something was going to break somewhere; it was merely a matter of waiting to see what it was. She settled herself in her chair and dug into her stir-fry, which turned out to be very tasty; then she checked the time and called the main house in the hope that someone in the kitchen might overhear and pick up so she could have them bring Christian to the phone and get an update on the triplets' morning at their father's office.

To her delight, it worked, and in a couple of minutes she was talking with Christian. "So how are the races going?" he asked once he'd given her a rundown on the morning.

"Very nicely. So far no sharks have been reported, and things are pretty smooth. Our guest seems to be afraid his fantasy won't be granted, and Brian Knight's getting a tad too big for his britches. How he did it with that motley crew of his, I'll never know, but he's in the sailing finals."

"Is he really! Well, how is he getting too big for the pants in question?" inquired Christian humorously.

Leslie had to laugh, and explained her encounter with Brian in line at the kiosk. "I just know something's going to happen. Of course, there's no question but that it'll happen during the sailing final, especially since both Brian and our guest are in that division."

"But of course. What's a weekend on this island without a little dramatic suspense? Good luck, anyway, my Rose, and if Brian wins, give him my congratulations. If he loses, I'll help you and Lauren laugh at him."

Leslie burst out laughing herself. "I'll hold you to that, my love. Talk to you later."

Shortly thereafter the other two judges returned, and the various division finals began within minutes of their arrival. The rowers in their sleek sculls, reminiscent of some Leslie remembered seeing on Boston's Charles River during televised Fourth of July concerts by the Boston Pops Orchestra, were the first to take their finals; there would then be the single-manned rowboats, Hawaiian outrigger canoes, motorboats, small yachts, and finally sailboats. She was looking forward to the end of the day; it would be close to suppertime before she was able to return to the main house, and it would be a treat to see Roarke, Christian and the triplets then, not to mention finding out how Haruko's weekend had gone.

During the outrigger races, Myeko, Katsumi, Lauren and Camille appeared, each with a purpose: Myeko had been covering the entire regatta for the _Fantasy Island Chronicle_; Lauren and Camille were interested, naturally, in the outcome of the sailing race; and Katsumi wanted to know if Leslie had any news about Haruko. "I haven't seen her all weekend," Leslie said, "but Christian passed on some news from Father that he checked up on her and Akima this morning and they were both doing just fine. So it sounds like Haruko's having a really wonderful time."

Katsumi smiled and seemed to relax. "I am happy to hear that. I only worry over my girl, but…all mothers worry so, yes?"

"That's for sure," said Camille, shading her eyes with one hand and peering out across the sailboats. "I still don't know what David was thinking, trying to become a sailor."

"And I'm surprised Brian decided he needed a crew," Lauren commented, shifting a restless Kevin on her hip.

Camille looked curiously at her. "Thought you said he was trying to keep those boys out of trouble."

Lauren snorted, "What kind of sense does that make? It'd be one thing if school were out for the summer, but these kids still have two months to go. Okay, maybe it's possible for a bunch of teenage boys to find something stupid to get mixed up in over the course of a regular weekend, but it's not like Brian's running a sailing school for wayward teenage boys or anything like that. He was all gung-ho over this thing, and then out of the blue he said he ought to have a crew."

Leslie spoke up, "Maybe that's because he'd have been the only sailing contestant going solo. Every other entry in the sailing division had at least three people to a boat."

Her friends stared at her. "Really?" Lauren said.

"Hmm," Camille mumbled at Leslie's nod. "Guess that'd explain it then."

"Whatever happens," Myeko remarked, gazing out across the water where the outriggers had vanished in the distance, "it's gonna be good stuff. We have enough regattas all year that there's guaranteed to be at least some vacationers in the races, and that's always good for some laughs where the locals are concerned."

"Any in this one?" Lauren asked idly.

"Yeah," said Leslie, "there's a guy who wants desperately to prove that he really does know how to sail a boat. He thinks the only way he can convince his buddies is by winning the sailing division. So far he's good—he's in the finals—but you never know."

Lauren turned around. "The sailing division? Oh, crud, that means he'll be racing against Brian and the Bumbling Bunch." The women all laughed, and Kevin chortled in reaction and kicked his feet, hitting Lauren in the ribs and making her exclaim in pain. "Hey, cut that out. You've got rocks for feet, Kevin Andrew. Anyway, I wonder if that'll make his chances any better. I told Brian that there's a certain pack of locals who always enter these things and have a way of walking off with them, and you know what he said? He goes, 'Then it's about time they got knocked off their high horse.' He really thinks he's gonna beat them. I don't even know if I should've come down here—it'll be a massacre."

"You sure have a lot of faith in your husband, don't you, Lauren?" Myeko said, touching off some more laughter. "Why don't you guys just stick around? Maybe there'll be a surprise ending, you never know. It's happened before."

They chatted till Leslie, peering through a pair of binoculars, saw the outriggers coming back into sight, and then watched interestedly as the race ended and a winner was declared. Leslie made the announcement, then checked her watch and announced that the motorboat division would have its final in five minutes. She coughed and cleared her throat just after turning off the mike, and Camille offered to get her a beverage; Leslie thanked her, handing her some cash. Lauren and Katsumi went with her, and Myeko remained behind to chat and catch up.

By the time the sailboats were lining up for their race, Leslie was weary and looking forward to the resolution not just of the regatta, but of their guest's fantasy. She shifted in her chair again, trying to find a reasonably comfortable position, and carefully scanned the sailboats through her binoculars. There were six boats competing, and due to the nature of the power under which these boats traveled, an hour had been scheduled for completion of this race. Once the boats got going, Leslie intended to suggest to her friends that they take a walk up and down the marina so she could get some exercise and a break from her chair.

The marina manager finally started the race with a recorded gunshot, and the line of sailboats struggled to get under way, slowly drifting forward and bobbing energetically in the rolling waves. Leslie leaned forward and again scanned the vessels with the binoculars, hearing Lauren and Camille both cheering the _Jenny_ on and Myeko and Katsumi exchanging a few amused words under the cousins' enthusiastic support. When it was clear that the boats were well and truly on their way, Leslie put down the binoculars and arose, stepping quickly out of the booth and offering a walk. Her friends accepted, and they all strolled along the dockside, wandering down each wharf just to check out the boats docked there. Some of the slips were empty, belonging to boats that had been racing this weekend.

After one lull in their conversation, Lauren pulled in a breath and gave in to Kevin's whimpering demand to be picked up. "Wonder how Brian and the Bumblers are doing."

"Want to go check it out?" Leslie offered. "Not that you'll see much. The boats aren't likely to be even up to the turnaround point yet."

"With the _Jenny_ in last place, probably, no thanks to my son and his landlubber pals," Camille remarked, amused. The sputter of a motorboat reached their ears, and they stepped off the wharf, heading back for the judges' booth just in time to see a crowd gathered along the waterfront near the booth and a bright-red motorboat speeding off into the distance, following the course the sailboats had taken.

"What's going on?" Myeko asked.

"Hold on, let me see if I can find out," Leslie said and climbed into the booth. What her fellow judges had to say made her blink and step back, then groan.

Camille had been watching and stood on her toes, an urgent look on her face. "Well, come on, Leslie, what's the story?"

"That red boat is on a rescue mission," said Leslie. "Two of the sailboats collided, and there's at least one person overboard, maybe two. We'll have to wait till the rescue boat radios back to us before we have any more news."

"Which two boats?" Lauren demanded.

Leslie bit her lip and said reluctantly, "Our guest's boat and the _Jenny."_


	11. Chapter 11

§ § § -- April 3, 2005

Haruko and Akima had been lazing in the marina area most of the day, going back just long enough to have some more seaweed for lunch and then returning to see the last races. They had chased the motorboat wakes just to see how fast they could swim, and had teased some of the yachters by breaching the water in the manner of dolphins. It had been a very enjoyable afternoon, and Haruko was trying not to think about the fact that in a few hours she had to go back. Instead, waiting for the final race of the day to start, she amused herself by turning continuous somersaults in the water.

_You are unhappy,_ Akima noted suddenly. _I hope all is well._

_I'm just depressed about going home,_ Haruko admitted. _It's been the most awesome weekend I've ever had, and I really don't want to go back. I wish I could just stay a mermaid for the rest of my life._

Akima smiled sympathetically. _I understand you perfectly, Haruko, my friend. After all, it is a most wonderful thing to be a merperson. But we promised Mr. Roarke._ She hovered still in the water, considering it. _We will have to return to my home to get all the lovely things you found this weekend, and then I will lead you to the beach where we will meet Mr. Roarke. And I promise, I will remain in touch with you. You have been the truest friend I have known, far more so than anyone in my world. I do not wish to lose such a friendship._

_Me either, and I'm really glad you said that!_ An unexpected sense of relief washed through Haruko, and she smiled at Akima. _You've been a terrific friend too, and it'd be strange not to be able to talk to you sometimes._

_Then I will see to it._ Akima beamed back at her, and then seemed to notice something. _Ah, look, I can see the shapes of boat hulls in the water. We can relax if we follow these boats. They are quite slow._ She propelled herself forward to meet the sailboats, and Haruko performed one final somersault and trailed her, still feeling reluctant to go home.

Akima swam up to just below the surface, then inverted herself, waving her tail above the water in a playful effort to tease the sailors. Haruko, perhaps ten feet farther down, nonetheless heard the shouts from above, though she couldn't make out the words. Akima's giggle sounded in her head. _They, too, think I am a dolphin!_

_They're nuts,_ Haruko teased. _Dolphins don't have such pretty iridescent tails._

_True,_ Akima conceded, still giggling. _But they certainly would never guess who truly owns this tail._ She dove down, pulling her tail below the surface, and then grabbed Haruko's arm. _Do you see that? Hurry, follow me!_

Haruko cast a glance over her shoulder long enough to see an enormous, sinister shape swiftly gliding in their direction. Terror swamped her and she shot away after Akima, desperately hoping the huge shark hadn't seen them. _I've never seen a shark that big!_

_It's a great white,_ Akima told her. _I have seen that one before; he likes this area when there are many people here at once. He has also been known to eat merpeople when he cannot get a human. Quickly, here, under the boats where he is too big to go._ They sped through the shadows of sailboat hulls on the surface, heading shoreward. Haruko felt like one long container of adrenaline; the water seemed to hum with tension, and everything smaller than they were had fled. Only marine plants waved gently from the bottom, and uncaring crabs, starfish and other finless and tailless creatures went about their business.

They hid beneath a luxury yacht securely tied to a slip at the far end of the wharf nearest the regatta course. From here they could easily see everything; they watched tensely while the shark glided with lazy insolence through boat shadows, then raised itself far enough that its ominous top fin broke the surface. It was enough to incite panic in the boats nearest the huge fish, and even from where Haruko and Akima stared, they saw two of the shadows slew in crazy directions. Then there was a strange, muted, but distinct series of low-pitched thuds, and two bodies plunged into the water in a shower of bubbles.

_We can't leave them there to get eaten,_ Haruko cried. _Come on, Akima, we have to save them!_

_Yes, that shark will go straight for them!_ Akima led the way, blasting out from beneath the yacht with Haruko mere inches behind. They rocketed directly for the two forms in the water, startling the giant shark enough that it darted off some distance. One of the humans clawed his way toward the surface, then slowly vanished, as if someone were hauling him out; the other was thrashing madly, kicking, windmilling its arms—and still sinking. Akima and Haruko were within ten feet of this second person when Haruko abruptly recognized the panicked, terrified face of David Omamara.

She herself panicked too. She absolutely could not allow him to realize who she was, and as a result she did something incredibly foolish. _Akima, you get that guy—I'm going to beat off that stupid shark!_ Before Akima could respond, Haruko blasted away, black hair streaming out behind her, her mind utterly consumed with not letting David see her in this guise.

As if at a distance, she heard Akima's cry: _Haruko, you cannot do that! That monster will eat you alive! Come back, please!_

_I can't! I know that guy and he knows me! It's the only thing I can do!_ But she wasn't really thinking straight, and thus a moment or two later she found herself face to face with an apparition straight out of a mariner's worst nightmare. The shark eyeballed her with what Haruko could have sworn was amusement, as if it were contemplating a new toy it could play with, and then headed right for her. She gaped at it, paralyzed with terror.

_Get away from her, you horrific leviathan! You'll not terrorize this part of the ocean any longer if I have something to say about it! I've been waiting for this moment for years!_ The voice Haruko heard in her head was a completely new one, that of a male, and before she could quite register having heard it at all, something rammed the enormous shark in the side with amazing force. Haruko recoiled so violently that she tumbled in the water. _Take that, you nightmare…and that, and THAT!_ Each "that" was punctuated by another stabbing blow from what Haruko now recognized as another merperson, wielding what appeared to be a very long spear of some kind. _Get out of here, and do not EVER return to these waters! We rule here, not you nor your kind! Find something your own size to taunt!_ Once more the strange merman jabbed the shark hard, this time alarmingly close to its face; and it was this final blow that persuaded the great white that it might be better off vacating the area. It whipped around and fled for deeper waters, its huge sinuous body wiggling madly back and forth to get it through the water.

Haruko went so limp with relief and adrenaline drainage that she sagged to the bottom and lay there, arms outstretched and eyes closed. She could feel her gills working madly and her heart pounding, and swallowed thickly a few times.

Then she felt a hand on her arm and opened her eyes. The merman who'd chased the shark away now hovered over her, a concerned expression on his shockingly handsome face. _You are a newcomer here, are you not? I hope you are not harmed._

_No…I'm okay, just—_ Haruko struggled abruptly into a sitting position, covering her chest again and feeling her face heat up with embarrassment. Suppose this merman had seen her like that—or worse, that awful David Omamara?

The merman grinned. _Relax, I will not harm you. Who are you?_

_I'm Haruko Miyamoto…Akima's friend. Do you know her? She's over there saving that boy I know…_ Confused and still shaking from her encounter, Haruko stopped and tried again. _That is, I…_

_My name is Andonen, and I am Akima's older brother. Why did you try to fight that shark? It's larger than three of us merpeople put together, and it's advisable to have a sturdy weapon if you wish to fight any shark—let alone that one._ Andonen grinned and hoisted his spear upright. Haruko saw now that it was even taller than he was and ended in three tines with arrowheads on the ends, much like the staff of the mythical Poseidon; it was made of some shiny gold metal and bore the marks of what looked like welding at intervals along its length. _I spent years making this,_ he told her. _My parents were greatly alarmed, but I was determined to fight that shark, and now I have done so. Now I think we have regained another part of our domain._ He paused long enough to study her. _You have two names. You are no true mermaid. How do you come to look like one of us?_

_Stop frightening her, Andonen, you sponge-brain._ Akima had finally caught up with them and was regarding her brother with disgust. _Haruko is my dear friend, and you will let her be. She saved my life when a storm washed me onto the beach here, and even though she is human, I consider her the truest friend I have ever had. Mr. Roarke helped her by making her a mermaid for a weekend, so that she could learn to know our world._

_And I've learned a lot,_ Haruko ventured, gazing at Andonen with growing interest. He was too handsome to be believed: his golden hair waved gently in the water, and his eyes were so blue as to match the sea around them. His long nose sloped gracefully down his face and was bracketed by high cheekbones, a strong forehead, full lips framing a heart-stopping smile, and a strong chin. The human half of his body was lean and muscular; he hefted his spear with ease. His tail was long and as iridescent as his sister's, tapering into two wide fins. _Akima's taught me so much about the sea, and it's been the most amazing experience of my entire life. I'll never, ever forget this, _Haruko assured him.

Andonen peered at her, then at Akima, and tapped his spear on the sandy bottom, looking thoughtful. _Hmm. So we must be near the fabled Fantasy Island, then, if you speak of Mama's old friend._ He returned his regard to Haruko. _You do not appear as other merpeople—your hair and eyes are both dark. And even had you looked as we do, I would have known you are not truly of the sea, for you seem to feel you must cover yourself._

_She cannot help that,_ Akima scolded indignantly. _It is a human peculiarity and she was taught this from infancy. Let her be. Soon she must return home anyhow._

Andonen's grin morphed into a surprised look. _Is this true? I am sorry for that. Even if she is no true mermaid, she makes a very exotic temporary one._ He reached out and fingered Haruko's hair experimentally. _What part of the human world do you come from?_

_I was born in Japan,_ Haruko explained. _You've probably been around there. I guess there's no such thing as an Asian mermaid._ She grinned sheepishly.

Andonen's laughter echoed in her head. _No, as it happens, we are all light-colored. I expect it's because of the kappas in Japanese waters. They were once far larger than they are now, and Mama thinks it's possible that if there were Asian merpeople, the kappas ate them. In any case, you are right, we do venture to Japan now and then; the world's most excellent pearls can be found there. It's easier to go now than it was before. The kappas are much smaller and far easier to fight. They were nothing. I wanted to best that miserable, territory-usurping great white, and now that is exactly what I have done. I simply never expected to meet such a lovely, exotic mermaid in the doing. _Andonen smiled at her._ I hope you might like another friend, alongside my sister._

_I'd like that,_ Haruko agreed shyly, smiling back. _Your name could almost be Japanese, do you know that?_

_Hmph,_ Akima pretended to grumble. _My show-off of a brother appears miraculously from nowhere, singlehandedly beats away the worst great white we have known, and then charms my very best friend. Well, Andonen, where did you come from?_

_The family is on the way back from Pitcairn,_ Andonen replied. _But you know how boring I find it, taking the route at such a leisurely pace, so I put on as much speed as I am capable of. I think I am five days ahead of the family. And it's fortunate that I am, for you two might well have become shark food._

Akima rolled her eyes. _Go ahead and say it, you annoying merfool. "And I never would have met this lovely, exotic pseudo-mermaid." Go on._

_Very well, I never would have met this lovely, exotic pseudo-mermaid. There is no harm in saying it, for it's true. Besides, Akima, it took you quite long enough to come here and see to Haruko's welfare from rescuing that clumsy human male._

For the first time Haruko had seen, Akima blushed vividly. _Ah, yes, that. I think he actually is quite attractive._ She noticed Haruko's astonished look_. Well, I do!_

_But…that's that stupid David Omamara! The one that's always picking on me in school!_ Haruko protested, stunned.

_I am sorry, my friend, truly…but I thought he was very attractive when I was in your school with you and saw him in the meal-eating room. I suppose it will not be possible for me to get to know him._ Akima's face took on a hopeful, pleading look, and Haruko groaned aloud.

_Oh, come on, you know he'd never believe it anyway,_ she reminded her friend.

Akima's face fell. _No, I suppose not. But perhaps one day…_ She smiled mistily, then came back to the moment. _That is for another time. Come, Haruko, I think we should return to my room so you can gather your treasures. There is enough time that we can take our time returning to your beach, and if Andonen likes you as much as I think he does, he will come with us and you will learn what he is truly like._

_You spoiled merbrat, _Andonen said dismissively, grinning. Akima was grinning too. _I should enjoy that trip. Whenever Akima visits you, I will be with her—and one day, when we know each other well, perhaps I will visit you without my sister in tow._

Again Haruko felt a sheepish grin break out. _I'm looking forward to it._ Flanked by her two new friends, she started to swim away from the regatta course, wondering just how much she was going to tell anyone—even her friends at school.

‡ ‡ ‡

Haruko looped the drawstring of the dirty white canvas bag over her wrist and donned her bathing suit, startled and disconcerted at how strange it felt to have two legs again, and experimentally kicked back and forth in the shallows before dog-paddling in as far as she could. When she had to stand up, she nearly toppled over, and Leslie trotted back in to give her some support till she got used to walking again.

Roarke watched them come out of the water, smiled when Haruko turned to wave goodbye to Akima and Andonen, and indulged her when she lingered to wistfully watch the brother and sister swim away and vanish into the ocean. Then, with Leslie continuing to offer support, Haruko picked her way across the sand, watching her feet.

"So tell us," Roarke urged, "did you enjoy your weekend?"

"It was wonderful," Haruko said and grinned up at him. "Not a thing wrong with it—at least, up till that shark invaded the regatta courses."

Roarke and Leslie laughed. "That sucker really gave everyone a fright," Leslie said. "It looked worse than it was, though. Neither of the sailboats that collided had any damage beyond some scraped paint, and Brian and David got out of the water none the worse for wear…though David could be heard babbling about being saved by a beautiful mermaid."

The way she said this last made Haruko slant a nervous glance up at her and then at Roarke, but they were both smiling. "Perhaps you'd like to tell us about your role in that little episode?" Roarke prompted.

"That was what we meant by watching boat wakes from underwater when we saw you this morning," Haruko admitted and went on to tell the story of hers and Akima's part in David Omamara's rescue. Roarke and Leslie frequently looked at each other in amused surprise, but neither said anything till Haruko was finished. Then she asked, "Did David really try to tell people that he was saved by a mermaid?"

"He sure did," said Leslie. "Your mother and I knew the secret, and we had an awful time not laughing. Some of our friends were there as well, including David's mother, but all they knew was that your parents had given you permission to have a fantasy granted this weekend—not what the fantasy was. So David's mother thought at first that maybe David had inhaled too much seawater, till she found out he was really okay—then she told him to stop the mermaid nonsense."

Haruko giggled, still a little nervous. "Did he describe the mermaid?"

"From what I heard, he claimed to have seen two, but that one of them swam off somewhere, and after that all his attention was on Akima. It must have been, since he was describing her as blonde and gorgeous and looking like a model." Leslie smiled sympathetically at Haruko's look of relief. "Don't relax your guard too quickly. David's aware that he saw a second mermaid, presumably you, and even if he doesn't ask you about that, he's just about guaranteed to ask about Akima. So you might keep that in mind when you head off to school tomorrow."

"Terrific," Haruko grumbled and sighed deeply. "What a letdown that'll be."

Leslie and Roarke looked at each other again. "Are you suggesting you would have preferred to remain a mermaid?" Roarke queried.

"I wanted to," Haruko admitted, settling into the back of the jeep. Roarke started it and began to back out of the alleyway that led to the beach. "I thought it would be an awesome life…till that shark came around and scared the heck out of me. If it hadn't been for Andonen, that great white would be digesting my bones right about now. So maybe it's as well I didn't stay a mermaid…" Her voice trailed off as she thought again about Andonen, and she missed the knowing smiles Roarke and Leslie favored each other with.

Kazuo and Katsumi were delighted to see their daughter again. "Did you have lovely time?" Katsumi asked, smoothing Haruko's salt-saturated hair.

"What'd you do for fun all weekend?" Kazuo put in. "I'm going to assume you remembered not to eat any fish, but what _did_ you eat? And what's in that old bag?"

Haruko brightened. "Akima and I found this on a rowboat that probably sank when I was a really little kid. It was perfect for bringing home my souvenirs. Look." She dragged the bag into the living room and began pulling out one item after another; Katsumi glanced after her, then smiled at Roarke and Leslie.

"I am very glad my Haruko have such a nice time, but of course I spend all the weekend worrying about her. If I get her away from Kazuo and all her pretty things, I will clean her myself. She will have salt from hair to toes, yes? She was in no danger?"

"Perhaps," Roarke suggested smilingly, "you should ask Haruko to tell you herself. She has new friends and a great deal of new knowledge from this experience, and I have no doubt it will be a very entertaining story for both you and your husband. For the moment, I must ask you to excuse us…we need to return to the main house."

"Of course, Mr. Roarke, I am sorry. Much thanks again that you bring Haruko home safe and happy. Good night." Katsumi bowed to Roarke and grinned at Leslie, then retreated inside the townhouse.

Back at the main house, Christian was waiting with the triplets; their evening meal had been delayed so that Roarke and Leslie could keep their appointment to take Haruko home and still be able to eat with the rest of the family. "How did Haruko's weekend go?" he inquired, catching Leslie to kiss her before she sat down.

Roarke and Leslie spent a good portion of the meal telling Christian what had taken place that afternoon, and Christian listened with great interest, in between bites of his own food and supervising Tobias. "Well," he said when they had finished. "High action, to be sure." He picked up his napkin and made a stab at clearing at least some of the mush off his son's face. "Ach, I suppose that will have to be enough for now. Well, then, what about Brian and his hand-picked crew?"

Leslie laughed. "Needless to say, they lost, and so did our guest who was trying to prove something with his fantasy. But I think Mr. Hedges is taking something better home with him. He's the one who pulled Brian out of the water after he and David Omamara fell overboard, and his buddies were impressed that he'd gone so far as to lend assistance to one of his opponents in the race." She guided a spoonful of tender peas into Karina's mouth and scraped off the overage that lingered on the child's chin; Karina munched happily, breaking down the soft vegetables with her new teeth and looking very contented. "As for Brian, he looked pretty sheepish when he got the _Jenny_ back to the starting point. He wouldn't even look at me, and you should've seen the look he threw at Lauren when she started teasing him about how sure of himself he'd been earlier. It's going to be a while before he lives that down, I know that much."

Christian chuckled. "I may as well not bother to contact him. It's one thing to laugh at him for losing the race, but considering the circumstances under which it happened, I see no reason to rub salt in the poor man's wound. Besides, I expect he's going to be very busy repainting the _Jenny_'s hull." They all laughed, and their conversation turned at last to other things while Christian and Leslie continued feeding the triplets.

Then it happened: Leslie had gone too long between bites shoveled into Karina's mouth, and the baby made certain her mother, father and grandfather—as well as anyone who happened to be passing by in the lane—was made aware of her impatience. "Ma-ma! _Dah!"_ she yelled stridently, pointing right at the spoon Leslie had been using to feed her.

Christian and Leslie gaped at their daughter, and Roarke burst into laughter. "I have a feeling she's trying to tell you something," he said teasingly between chuckles.

"She said 'mama'!" Leslie breathed, eyes huge and fixed on Christian. "Did you hear?"

"Believe me, I heard, my darling," Christian assured her, beginning to laugh himself. "And I'll wager her next word will be 'gimme'." Leslie joined in his merriment, managing to get another spoonful of peas into Karina's mouth. Karina simply sat and chewed, with a look of unmistakable self-satisfaction on her small, food-smeared face.


	12. Chapter 12

§ § § -- April 4, 2005

Haruko had two classes with David, one in the late morning and the other near the end of the school day. She managed to avoid him in the first class; but she had no such luck in the second, which was her science class and the one for which she had furiously written out her extra-credit report the previous evening. Her mother had insisted that she have a thorough bath after a weekend's immersion in salt water, and Haruko had only reluctantly submitted; it had surprised her to find that she was tired of being wet, though her skin and hair had been uncomfortably sticky with salt and other things the brine had left behind.

Her teacher looked at her with surprise when she approached the desk and presented the report. "What's this?"

"I thought I might try for some extra credit," Haruko ventured, a little bashfully. "I spent some time…out at sea, studying exotic fish and things like that."

"Well, as a matter of fact, that fits right in with the marine curriculum I'd planned to introduce to close out the year's final grading period," the teacher said. "Why don't you stay up here a bit, let me get the class under way, and then we'll have you read your report out loud." So saying, she quieted the students while Haruko mentally groaned and wished she had just waited till the end of the class and sneaked the pages onto her teacher's desk.

"Class, for the final grading period of this school year, we're going to study marine life, and by way of an initial overview we happen to have a report by Haruko Miyamoto. We would both appreciate it if you'd all show her a little common courtesy and listen while she reads—thank you. Haruko?"

Haruko hoped nobody would notice her shaking hands—at least, nobody behind the front row. She took one deep breath and began reading before she could chicken out any further, and rattled through the entire report without once looking up from her papers. Her classmates remained quiet, and when she finished she began to turn away with relief, only to hear the class applauding. She blinked, then grinned and handed the teacher the report before hurrying back to her seat.

David Omamara, who sat in the next row to her left and two seats farther ahead, had twisted around in his chair and was staring at her. "Where'd you learn all that?" he whispered while the teacher was writing out the basic topics of her latest curriculum on the chalkboard. "You must've gotten it off the net."

"Think so?" Haruko asked sweetly. "Too bad you didn't write one yourself. You had the chance after you fell off that boat yesterday." David's eyes went wide at this remark, and Haruko just couldn't stifle a tiny, satisfied smirk before pulling out her science text and placing the rest of her books under her chair.

"How'd you know about that?" David demanded, forgetting to whisper.

"David Omamara," said the teacher firmly, "kindly face the front and pay attention." David turned reluctantly around, but Haruko could tell he was steaming, and she felt pretty good at having bested him for one of the rare times in the history of his teasing her.

But the kid sitting behind David snickered. "Mrs. Dobson, as long as we're listening to special reports about the ocean, maybe David here oughta get up in front of the class and tell everybody about the mermaid he saw yesterday."

The teacher stared at him in reprimand while the class broke into laughter. Haruko looked around the room; there were a lot of knowing looks, and she wondered how many of their classmates had been watching the regatta that weekend. David whipped around in his chair and slugged the boy behind him, his face flaming. "Shut up, Marquard!"

The boy grinned broadly. "Still stickin' to that goofy story, huh?"

"I did see a mermaid," David snapped at him. "You were on that boat too, y'know. In fact, I saw two of 'em—and one was her." He pointed at Haruko.

"Class, class," the teacher called loudly over the din and the lingering laughter. "Let's settle down and stop the nonsense. David and Shane, please, pay attention."

But Shane Marquard was clearly having too much fun at David's expense, and Haruko had to admit she was enjoying it immensely. _Let him see what it feels like to have somebody humiliating you in public!_ "Mrs. Dobson, maybe Dave could get some extra credit too if he told everybody what he saw this weekend."

Mrs. Dobson, looking weary and put-upon, sighed deeply. "David?"

"Come on, David, tell us," several voices encouraged wickedly, giggling.

By now David could have passed for a traffic light, there was so much blood in his face. "Yeah, okay, fine, so I was part of the crew on a boat in the regatta yesterday. And fine, so I fell off, and I can't swim. But I swear to you, there is _no way_ I could've ever gotten outta the water, and not drowned, if it wasn't for that mermaid who saved me. There were two mermaids, and the one that saved me was blonde. The other one was her." Once more he pointed at Haruko. The class roared again, and David's ruddiness began to shade in the direction of purple. "I swear!"

Mrs. Dobson shook her head in resigned amusement and lifted both hands, palms down. "That will do, class. I think we've had our dose of humor for one day."

Shane Marquard and quite a few other kids were peering at Haruko, their eyes still alight with mirth. "What's with him sayin' you were a mermaid?" Shane asked.

Haruko shrugged lightly. "Oh, he probably just had the bends or something," she said, but she could see David's miserable face just behind Shane and felt a sudden pang of conscience. "Well, hey, you know we're on Fantasy Island…"

She left the sentence hanging, and the kids around them looked at one another, most with tentatively thoughtful expressions. Then, one by one, they shook their heads and let out snickers. There were a couple of muttered "no way"s, and Shane snorted, rolled his eyes and turned around in his seat. David sank back into his own, his face very slowly beginning to fade back to its normal color as Mrs. Dobson succeeded at last in distracting the class.

At the end of the school day Haruko was lucky enough to snag an empty seat close to the front of the school bus she rode, and was reaching up to try to work the balky window down when she felt someone else thump into the seat beside her. She peered over her shoulder and groaned aloud; it was David again. "What?"

David cleared his throat, looking embarrassed, though not quite as much as he had in class earlier. "I, uh…well, I just wanted to say…thanks for getting Marquard and those other morons off my back."

Haruko stared at him in disbelief, then nodded once, tentatively. "Sure."

"Listen…I guess I kinda owe you one…reminding them about this island. I mean, yeah, I know, not that they believed it really, but…at least it made 'em shut up, know what I mean? So I just thought I'd say thanks." David fidgeted, and Haruko expected him to get up and bolt to his usual seat in the back of the bus; but he lingered for some reason.

Just when she was about to demand what else he wanted, he looked up at her and leaned in much too close for comfort. "Hey," he whispered, "you can tell me the truth and I won't blab about it, solemn oath. Was that other mermaid really you?"

Haruko debated telling him, wondering what he would do with the information. The incident in class had proven that nobody was really going to believe him even if she told him the truth, so what precisely could he say? She shrugged a shoulder and admitted very quietly, "Yeah, it was me."

"I knew it," David said, very self-satisfied. "Good, 'cause I wanted to ask you. Was that other mermaid a friend of yours? Can you, well, you know…introduce us sometime?"

Haruko gawked at him, a grin beginning to split her face. For once, she had the upper hand with her longtime nemesis, and it felt euphoric. "Well, I don't know," she drawled, settling back into her seat and regarding him with exaggerated doubt.

"Aw, c'mon," David wheedled. "She was gorgeous. There's no girl in this lousy school that's half that pretty. What would I hafta do to get her to notice me?"

Haruko decided not to tell him about Akima's admitted attraction to him; after all he'd done to her, he could stew for a while. "For one thing, you'll have to learn how to swim," she said, grinning. "Then maybe she'd talk to you."

For just a moment David looked taken aback; then he nodded once, grabbed his backpack and headed for the back of the bus, determination on his face. Haruko watched him go, then turned back to the window to try again to get it down. She knew it was hopelessly stuck, but it was the only way she could hide her laughter. _Thanks, Akima, my friend,_ she thought gleefully. She knew both Akima and Andonen would enjoy this tale when she saw them again—and maybe, so would Miss Leslie and Mr. Roarke.

* * *

_Thanks for your patience during the nearly two months it's taken me to complete this story! I hope to get the next one done a little quicker. __:) In that one, Taro Sensei's world has already begun to crumble around him. How long will his fragile new life hold up now that he's moved back home to Fantasy Island?_


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